WTC Donation, where's the money?

FoxNews - Bill Oreilly

[Die_Hard Conservative Lady]

I've been watching the O'Reilly Factor, and we keep hearing the same thing... Where is all the money that has been collected? United Way, Red Cross etc. It's not getting to the victims...... Who's collecting all the interest?

[pabianice]

The United Way weasles already let it slip that they are giving some to the Million Mom March and The Brady Bunch. Aren't you glad you gave?

[Cautor]

It's been 25 years since I gave the United Way. I suspect most of the $1 billion pledged to help the victims of the terrorist attack will not get to those for whom it was intended. I hope O'reilly gets to the bottom of this. BTW, old Howard Lutnick is laying low since Bill put the spotlight on his crying scheme. Thanks Fox.

[DoughtyOne]

I began to really worry about this when the count started to head downward. I've actually seen a report or two that we might wind up with between 2,500 and 3,500 casualties. I believe over $100 million dollars has been collected so far. Still I see the Red Cross hawking donations on the tube all the time. What's up with this?

I happen to feel that there's a very strong likelyhood that these agencies are taking advantage to build up their funding rather than the families with losses. The government should step in and monitor these funds.

[TomB]

He was quite clear that he interviewed the head of the Red Cross and was satisfied with what they were doing. It is the United Way that he mainly has a problem with.

[Political Junkie Too]

I remember hearing in the news (after the Loma Prieta quake in 1989) that unless Red Cross donations are specifically earmarked for the specific account or office, it goes into the general fund for the local office where it was donated.

Did the people who donated blood in California really expect their blood to be flown to New York City?

-PJ

[thatsnotnice]

I saw a Red Cross (or someone representing themself as an agent of theirs) charge a co-worker $5.00 for a soda and balogna sandwitch. I swore I'd never give them a nickel ever again. This was in about '80... There was a hurricane/flood in the south Houston area at the time. "Alicia" comes to mind, but I could be misremembering.

[ErnBatavia]

Anybody know if ACLU or Rainbow Coalition get a buck or three via this organization?

[Agent Smith]

The United Way sucks, always has and probably always will.

I would prefer that the needy burn my money for heat, than waste it on the United Way.

[america76]

It will probably turn up at a Planned Parenthood clinic near you.

[Political Junkie Too]

I lived in Houston when Alicia hit. That was in 1984. It could have been a lot worse than it was. I lived in the Alief area, where we got a lot of wind but not a lot of rain.

-PJ

[mickie]

Give your donations to WTC through Catholic Charities, earmarked for the victim's families, of course.
Almost the total sum goes directly to charity.......that is the way I donate.

[DoughtyOne]

Well, yes if there was a massive demand for it. I don't think the blood is the real problem. It's the millions upon millions of dollars in donations that were earmarked for victim's families.

[gatex]

The Red Cross collected $40-$50 million for the California earthquake---they distributed $12-$14 million and put the rest into the general fund. [source--was in the news at the time ]

[IncredibleHulk]

The Red Cross is out of touch with reality.

If the freeway is closed for 3 hours in SoCal, they open a relief center in a local high school (I ate half a Pizza Hut sausage pizza). The United Way was forced by the courts into giving money to so many perverted causes that anyone with morals or ethics quit and left the dregs of society to give money to their friends.

[Danno]

Been screaming about the money since September 11th that the money needs to be collected by someone other than the establishment orgs. I had a feeling it was going to get bogged down in red-tape, used to fund other enterprises and grudgingly allocated to vague services such as 'grief counseling'. For goodness sakes...these people just need to money passed along to them directly and cut out all the horse pucky. If they decide to get grief counseling they can get it cheaper themselves than the third party firms who probably are billing out at 250.00 per hour. Good grief...

This is one time I feel that the gov. should step in and distribute the funds. The United Way, et al should not be collecting this money.