How generosity of US public threw Red Cross into turmoil

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Times
From Tim Reid in Washington



THE AMERICAN Red Cross was plunged into the worst crisis of its recent history after it was swamped with donations in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The deluge of money received by the charity — $619 million (£331 million), almost half of every post-September 11 dollar donated to charity — immediately led to internal feuds, followed by a national outcry over how the charity intended to spend the money, and within a month of the attacks, the resignation of the American Red Cross president.

The agency initially indicated to donors that donations would go to the victims of the attacks and their families. But so much was raised (donations arrived at three per second over the internet alone) that Bernadine Healy, the Red Cross president, decided that $300 million would go to victims and their families, with most of the balance set aside to build up the nation’s blood supply and prepare responses to future acts of terrorism.

Dr Healy also took the unusual step of putting all the donations in one place, in a new account called the Liberty Disaster Relief Fund. She decided that the September 11 money should not be mixed with the charity’s longstanding National Disaster Relief Fund.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1483585,00.html