Are The Contributions Really Less?

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Destruction from the hurricanes and tropical storms that have devastated U.S. communities and Caribbean nations in the past few months has exceeded the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans in 2005, but donations for relief efforts this time are drastically less. "I believe a combination of the recent economic crisis and the media attention, or lack there of, have presented challenges to us," said Patricia Hvidston, senior director of development for Catholic Charities USA. "We have gotten donations, and we're grateful to everyone who has made donations, but it's significantly lower than the response to Katrina." Donations to Catholic Charities in response to Katrina averaged $890 each from more than 180,000 contributors, but donations in response to the series of storms that have crippled communities along the Gulf of Mexico, Florida and elsewhere have only averaged $159 each from fewer than 1,000 supporters, Hvidston reported. Meanwhile, Catholic Relief Services has raised around $1 million for emergency aid for Cubans and Haitians affected during this hurricane season, but have fallen $1.5 million short of the agency's fundraising goal for those Caribbean nations, said Mark Melia, deputy vice president for charitable giving for the international relief agency.

Could it just be that many dioceses and their bishops have decided to forego the Catholic Relief Serivces and Catholic Charities USA route because they are bloated beauracriacies? Could itbe that many bishops are deciding to send their money directly to the bishops involved so they can be certian that the money is used properly and not paying exorbitant adminstyiraitve costs of operating offices inside the Beltway. The 'Washington problem' doesn't just apply to the banking and financial centers of our country but also applies to the operaitons of the Cahtolic Church. Keep funding local and we can be sure that those high salried Church beaurcrats are put out of bisiness.

SORRY ABOUT THE TYPOS...TRY THIS...
Could it just be that many dioceses and their bishops have decided to forego the Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA route because they are bloated bureaucracies? Could it be that many bishops are deciding to send their money directly to the bishops involved so they can be certain that the money is used properly and not paying exorbitant administrative costs of operating offices inside the Beltway. The ‘Washington problem’ doesn't just apply to the banking and financial centers of our country but also applies to the operations of the Catholic Church. Keep funding local and we can be sure that those high salried Church bureaucrats are put out of business.

High salaried church bureaucrats? The church may sponsor private lay organizations, and those organizations may overpay their executives, but it'd be a far stretch to call them being part of the church itself.

Use charitynavigator.org to check out the administrative overhead for most of these charities. Most Catholic charities have less than five percent overhead.

If you could research one such Church organization, let's say Catholic Charities USA, and find out the number of employees earning $75,000 or more, it would be most instructive. It's not that $75,000 is an exorbitant salary but my point is that individual donors would do better to give their money directly to those diocese which have been ravaged by these hurricanes, rather than supporting these heavily bureaucratic organizations with steep rent and expenses around the DC area.

It's not that $75,000 is an exorbitant salary but my point is that individual donors would do better to give their money directly to those diocese which have been ravaged by these hurricanes, rather than supporting these heavily bureaucratic organizations with steep rent and expenses around the DC area.

You'll not find a lot of argument from me in how many take advantage of charity organizations to pad their pockets with overly high salaries. I'm always a critic of waste, government or otherwise. And I'm sure you're right, the number of those working for Catholic charities that have salaries that exceed $48,000 a year is embarrassing. But that would be a mere drop in the bucket compared to other charities such as United Way.

But the most important point, that of donating directly to affected diocese is a very valid one, as they would know exactly what was needed and best able to make sure the money reached those in need.

What I think is the biggest shame in the original article, however, is the comparison to Katrina donations. Far too many of the donations went to people inconvenienced by the hurricane, and too little to those who were completely wiped out. Billions upon billions flooding into the bowl of New Orleans, while people were sifting through houses turned to soggy matchsticks along the Gulf coast.

Even in this disaster along the Texas coast, the media seemed to give far more voice to whiny people in Houston who were complaining no one was giving them ice when markets were opening to sell it, vs. the images we were seeing of communities that were stripped to the ground, and their voices being mostly absent.

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