Posted on 09/28/2005 4:29:17 PM PDT by anymouse
As its hurricane relief donations near the $1 billion mark, more than double all other charities combined, the American Red Cross is encountering sharp criticism of its efforts and mounting pressure to share funds with smaller groups.
The complaints — that Red Cross operations were chaotic in some places, inequitable in others — have stung deeply within an organization that is proud of its overall response to Hurricane Katrina, by far the most devastating natural disaster it has confronted on U.S. soil.
"It's frustrating to our thousands of volunteers out there every day, away from their families, helping people," said spokeswoman Devorah Goldburg. "We never said we were perfect — we're trying to do our best under extraordinary circumstances."
The frustration stems partly from the fact that the Red Cross has worked to avoid a recurrence of the humbling fundraising controversy that flared after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Back then, the Red Cross raised about $1.1 billion — its record so far for a single disaster — but the organization was assailed when donors belatedly learned that $200 million of their gifts were being earmarked to prepare for future crises rather than to help victims. Red Cross president Bernadine Healy resigned, the money was shifted back to the Sept. 11 Liberty Fund, and the organization promised greater accountability in future fundraising campaigns.
Because of that experience, Goldburg said the Red Cross is determined to use its massive donations for purposes its donors were asked to support. These include emergency shelter and food, plus short-term financial aid, but not longer-term recovery or rebuilding. Such efforts have never been part of the Red Cross mission.
"After 9/11, we learned we had to be very specific as to where our money is going," Goldburg said. "Our donors are saying to us, 'We want this money spent on Katrina right now.'"
The Red Cross estimates it will need $2 billion to finance Katrina-related emergency services. Even if the goal is reached, Goldburg said, any policy change that would allow support of recovery programs would have to be authorized by the Red Cross board of governors.
Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, said he has been impressed with the Red Cross' adjustments after Sept. 11 and its emergency response to Katrina.
But he is among numerous experts and activists who believe Katrina's impact is so severe that the Red Cross should depart from tradition and help finance the long-term recovery. "A lot of small non-profits in the Gulf Coast are staring at deficits and will be hoping for partnerships," he said. "The Red Cross would be wise to invest in them."
Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center for the Study of Philanthropy at the City University of New York, also advised the Red Cross to consider flexible, creative ways of sharing donations.
"How funds are allocated between relief and development is always a problem because relief is sexy and development is not," she said. "We're seeing a huge amount of money poured into relief, and far less attention paid to how you get money to local organizations which can find the best way to help rebuild their communities."
Across the Gulf Coast, a coalition of black-led community groups called Saving Our Selves is urging the Red Cross to consult with their leaders as attention shifts to recovery.
"This work is so immense — it's dangerous any time you have a single organization monopolizing relief services," said coalition leader LaTosha Brown. "The Red Cross needs to recognize its limitations and reach out by partnering with local agencies who have people on the ground."
Yet the executive director of the watchdog group Charity Navigator said such pleas to the Red Cross are unrealistic, and many reflect envy of its fund-raising prowess.
"The Red Cross raised the money fair and square by making a compelling case to the American public that they were the best organization to get these dollars," Trent Stamp said. "To come in after the fact and ask them to share the money — I can't think of anything more pie-in-the-sky and naive."
Several other complaints have arisen. Among them:
_Some black activists have contended that the Red Cross response, notably in the first few days after Katrina, provided better services in mostly white areas than mostly black areas. "For the first 72 hours, they did not do an equitable job of responding to all communities," said Joe Leonard of the Washington-based Black Leadership Forum.
Red Cross chief diversity officer Rick Pogue said this perception arose because the organization, though committed to serving all in need, had more trouble getting teams into some impoverished black areas early in the crisis than into more affluent areas. "The need was so great, we'd go first to the areas we could get to the easiest," Pogue said.
_In DeKalb County, Ga., the Red Cross was asked to vacate a relief center still filled with hundreds of Katrina evacuees after a dispute with the county's chief executive. Goldburg said the dispute involved financing; DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones said victims were "treated like cattle" by overwhelmed volunteers unprepared to handle the demand for services.
_Many people seeking help complained of trying futilely for hours to get through to Red Cross telephone hot lines. The Red Cross acknowledged this problem and appealed for patience.
_Richard Walden, president of the relief agency Operation USA, urged donors to consider alternatives to the Red Cross in a scathing column Sunday in the Los Angeles Times titled "The Red Cross Money Pit." Among other charges, Walden said the Red Cross had not made clear to donors that some of its spending on emergency housing for evacuees would be reimbursed by the federal government.
Goldburg said such reimbursements — for evacuees placed in motels when Red Cross shelters became overcrowded — would amount to a little less than $100 million, or 5 percent of the organization's projected total costs.
Red Cross = one of the biggest scam operations ever.
United Way and Red Cross are really bad places to put money.
Give it to Salvation Army or local charity groups.
In Atlanta this is a pretty big local story. The Red Cross was thrown out of Decalb County by the County Commissioner.
I personally would cut the Red Cross some slack. They are a volunteer organization who is doing some great work associated with the hurricanes. You can pick anyone involved in this hurricane story and find someone who will complain.
I gave the Red Cross some money, but I think the people who are out there on the front line providing help are the ones who provide the real value.
If people don't like their response, then I guess they shouldn't live anywhere near a flood zone next time.
I was deployed on the Katrina disaster in Mississippi and
Louisiana. You can't imagine the fraud and waste. Some enterprising reporter will make his/her name on this one.
"Red Cross = one of the biggest scam operations ever.
United Way and Red Cross are really bad places to put money.
Give it to Salvation Army or local charity groups."
Worth repeating !!
They shouldhave been run out of business after their aburd performance after 9/11.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:csMT-ONv3j8J:www.apfn.org/apfn/WTC_red-cross.htm+%22red+cross+%22+scandal+911&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
According to Forbes, the CEO, Marsha Evans was paid $651,957 in 2003. Forbes
They continue to air commercials implying that funds are still needed, and will be used, for Katrina victims.
Of course, this assumes that all areas were equally accesible.
But, strangely enough, natural disasters are not politically correct. They hit some areas harder than others, or some infrastructures harder than others.
If bridges are out getting in to New Orleans, but surface roads are accesible in Mississippi, put that down to geography and force of nature, not some kind of imagined racism or favoritism.
While I may not be the biggest fan of the Red Cross, this argument is ridiculous.
And this doesn't even address whether or not the incompetent Louisana state and local leadership allowed Red Cross to be pre-positioned.
That Red Cross in Franklin Tennessee told the members of nearby Brentwood Baptist Church when the congregation volunteered to help the Red Cross with anything they need:
"FINE, JUST DON'T BRING YOUR BIBLES WITH YOU"..
The Red Cross is like United Way....stuck on stupid.
Share cash? It's now asking FEMA to reimburse it for the expenditure of private donations to Red Cross.
"Walden said the Red Cross had not made clear to donors that some of its spending on emergency housing for evacuees would be reimbursed by the federal government."
It's called "double dipping."
Agreed.
Which is why I don't donate to charities anymore. I figure I'm paying for the mess anyway with the higher gas prices! They can't squeeze any more outta me!
Across the Gulf Coast, a coalition of black-led community groups called Saving Our Selves is urging the Red Cross to consult with their leaders as attention shifts to recovery. "This work is so immense — it's dangerous any time you have a single organization monopolizing relief services," said coalition leader LaTosha Brown.
I'm certainly no fan of the Red Cross, but this argument is ridiculous. The Red Cross has one job: to help victims of disaster and to provide for their short-term needs (food and water, a few days or weeks of shelter, help getting in touch with relatives). Not to make small-business loans with donations, not to consult with local black community leaders and let them decide how to spend the Red Cross funds, not to cut welfare checks, not to rebuild houses or community centers.
This certainly DOES look like a case of jealousy...and apparently any time is the right time to play that racism card (it usually works so well, don't ya know).
"Red Cross = one of the biggest scam operations ever.
United Way and Red Cross are really bad places to put money.
Give it to Salvation Army or local charity groups."
Exactly. When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s, I would listen as vets from WWII would sit around complaining about the Red Cross for the way the organization treated them overseas, making them pay for even a stinking cup of java. But they all sang the praises of the Salvation Army.
Nothing seems to have changed, eh?
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