Diminishing returns: DeKalb County (GA) CEO asks the Red Cross to LEAVE

[Nothing Without Hope]

One more reason to believe that Red Cross is not the way to go for Katrina contributions -- if you needed one. There is also a link to a video clip at the site, but I could not get it to work on my Mac.

The Red Cross nearly caused a riot by promising money that was never delivered, according to Mr. Jones. He said that evacuees were misled. This is not the first time I've heard a story like this, but it is the first time I've heard of them actually being asked to leave.

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=69399

County CEO Asks Red Cross to Leave

Caption: DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones

Reported By: Jon Shirek
Web Editor: Ian Stinson
Last Modified: 9/19/2005 10:06:06 AM

DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones says the Red Cross is hindering efforts to help hurricane victims.

Jones sent a memo to the Red Cross on Sunday asking the organization to get out of the way and get out of the DeKalb County Relief Center by 5 o'clock Monday afternoon.

The letter cites what Jones called the "unwieldy and chaotic operations of the Red Cross".

The letter continues by stating:
"Your presence as it is now is hindering our efforts to help the same people. It is in our best interest to conduct our operations separately from now on."

(snip)

[Erika]

1. Real problems.

Many of us hope we pay our federal taxes so the government can control and provide relief to those in need.

[snot]

2. R.C. has been an interesting and dismaying side story. --nt

[Trevelyan]

42. The person who wrote about detainee camp in Okla: Red Cross=FEMA

The president appoints the top officials of Red Cross and they are usually heavy GOP contributors and so feel they have a right to help themselves to money given by people who are rarely wealthy for those less fortunate. How do they live with themselves.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole was caught taking $150,000 out of Red Cross for personal use (bet it was more) and not prosecuted because at that time her husband was a REPUBLICAN Senator.

Bernadette Healy gave very fishy reasons why 50% of the money donated for the families of victims of 911 had been "held back for other emergencies" and "Red Cross didn't know it was meant for 911 victims because people didn't write it on their check."

The obstruction by FEMA was deliberate, the Red Cross was never allowed into NOLA and I wonder if the Salvation Army is better. I have heard they are but don't know. TPM Cafe has an ad by ACORN saying they are better and someone on Rep.Conyers' site recommended the NAACP which certainly might be a way of making sure the aid got to victims of Katrina and now sadly Rita which did further damage to NOLA because the Army Corp of Engineers said they didn't have time to fix the levees right.

[lovuian]

3. Red Cross has been totally corrupted by Bush and until it

gets it act together Nobody is going to want them!!!

[Im with Rosey]

26. I don't remember...

Who was in charge of RC when Clinton was pres? I don't seem to recall any of this cronyism then.

[anitar1]

41. IMHO. the Red Cross was corrupted well before Bush came

came on the scene. What hapened to the BILLION dollars they took in. I saw this reported a few days ago. They have not even shown up at many places on the Gulf Coast. The real workers are all volunteers--pay for their own transportation ect. I have heard too many stories from people , through the years, who could not get help from the Red Cross. I would never donate to them. There are many worthy organizations who are honest people. Red Cross is like a giant corporate sucking hole.

[autorank]

4. All the sacred public idols are falling, one after the other...

"They discovered to their vast discomfiture that their idol had feet of clay, after placing him upon a pedestal" (James Joyce).

What's up with the Red Cross. Amazing...our social structures are crumbling. The public should have paid attention to the Red Cross when they pulled their 911 move...allocating funds raised for 911 to other functions.

Well, this is a new low. Good grief...

Recommended

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. The stain of Bush filth has ruined so much of value in this country.

A world where even a historically important disaster victim caregiver like the Red Cross cannot be trusted has lost an important source of comfort and trust. I'm guessing that this experience will turn people off other big charities too - it will be "prove to me you are honest and that you are going to get the job done."

[Trevelyan]

43. United Way had two separate BIG SCANDALS of their top people

taking vacations and paying for luxury items for themselves. From the newspapers, I worked as a temp for United Way and the people were nice but the top guy (just at that location) was mad and the newspapers for reporting the big thefts by the Big Guys and Women (shame) and the woman I worked for said that the ones stealing from United Way should be exposed.

After the second scandal they changed their name for a while to Capitol something, then changed it back. The NAACP might be the way to go and I would like to learn about charities, maybe ACORN with a good reputation. I think it is true Red Cross = FEMA since the obstruction reported in the article sounds like the contribution to murder committed by FEMA in the Gulf states.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/fema.html/

The above URL doesn't work for me but you can go to AboveTopSecrets home page and read this long very good article and comments.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/

I just got back from a FEMA Detainment Camp

I’m extremely depressed to report that things seem to only be getting sadder concerning the people so devastatingly affected by Katrina last week.


Kick, Nominated. Very important to discuss.

[understandinglife]

11. Bush and his neoconster regime rival any plague, ever, for lethality.

Peace.

[autorank]

12. Now that's scary! But they're a scary bunch. Heralds of the worst

outcomes and the least hope.

[riverwalker]

5. 1$ billion raised

and entire top echalon of RC packed with incompetant repub bushbots and BFEE cronies.
Ripe for disaster.

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. People give to the RC because of its history and because it is so

relentlessly pushed by every media venue and pretty much every public spokesperson - including Bush in his speeches. It's a traditional icon of efficient, effective compassion.

Not any more. It's another national tragedy, and it will hurt the people who see what happens with their donations as well as those for whom the promised help never comes.

[heidler1]

13. During WW2 the Red C. charged departing soldiers for coffee & donuts

The Salvation Army was free. It happened to me in Seattle.

[Nothing Without Hope]

15. That is really low. You'd think a little coffee and donuts as a comfort

and gesture of thanks wouldn't be tarnished by asking them for money.

[LostinVA]

27. My grandfather has told me this, too

He's 87, and EVEY time the ARC is mentioned on TV he rants about how they always charged them for snacks during WW II, even in places where they had a monopoly. Even after he returned from the Pacific 9he was in the Navy) with his body full of shrapnel. He always mentioned the Sallies and Catholic organizations giving the men free food, books, etc.

He has never given blood if it was for an RC blood drive.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. It is high time the low level VOLUNTEERS

revolt and throw management out... has been done in other national societties

But in this case, they want to destroy the red cross too... remember what Gonzales said bout the Geneva Convention... I do smell a rat

Also the ARC has not switched gears to long term support, they have nothing in the manual... oh and did tell them this in a leter I sent, took no prisoners

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. Wow! How bad do...

...they have to be to get asked to leave? Disturbing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Quite a bit

I was a MEXICAN Red Cross Medic for ten years, and the things I have read that they have done or not... is making my blood boil

Jean Henri Dunant is doing somersaults and so is Clara Barton....

Part of the problem is the ARC has not trained for mid to long term housing in disaster situations, their SOP call for giving folks a little food, a little money, some psychological help and move on. For most disasters that is all you need... this is a very different animal and I doubt it is in their disaster management books what to do... they have not brought the point of permanent temporary shelter, otherwise known as refugee or Internally Displaced Person Camps... or any of that... and the fact they did not go to the Convention Center because it was not safe really makes my blood boil... given I went around army check points more than once in disasters.

Heck we never had the resources this country supposedly has, and not even in Mexico City were the bunglings this bad, and trust me, they were bad. Oh internal review was brutal.

Oh and I took a disaster course with the ARC once... and there were two things that struck me.

1.- What are your procedures to call the International Cavalry? (bear in mind I knew ours inside out).

We don't have such a procedure since this coutry is self sufficient.

2.- The course emphasized damage assestment and following orders from the authorities.

Ok that is nice, but.. here is the big but, there are times you need to break some eggs to get the help to people... procedures work 99% of the time... but you need to know what to do during that 1%... which I actually was faced with as a Mexican Red Cross Volunteer, and included telling a Full Bird where to stuff it, chapter and verse from Geneva

So here is at a crux the problem...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

14. Enlightening. Thank you. nt.

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. That is quite a story! At the heart of it I hear how you cared for the

people receiving assistance and faced down whoever and whatever blocked that care.

That's one of many things missing today. With FEMA and apparently with the Red Cross, caring for the people seems almost incidental. With FEMA, hundreds, probably thousands, died because of it. It's not just incompetence, it's lack of giving a damn about the consequences.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. The low level volunteers care

of that I am sure, positive, what have you... it is management...

Now in order to know what to do in that 1% you have to give your volunteers the tools. I was also an instructor, and I did spend a good 40 hours between formal and informal discussions on the Geneva Convention and what it is, and how it functions in disasters, and war time.

From what I saw... the ARC did not do that... though to their credit their International Assistance teams are well trained in International Humanitarian law

Also bear in mind I was a Paramedic, I drove or rode in an ambulance and went to emergency scenes all the time. So when a disaster struck I had to change hats at times.

We had disasters more often too... after all a big car wreck is a disaster... so is a fire... so we were used to go from theory to practice at the drop of the hat. After the Mexico City Earthquake teams were also trained in disaster management and it became one of the many specialties that your average personnel could train in. I took the courses, and yes our books included how to set camps and run them... fortunately all I had to do in flooding was run refugee halls for a week... I never had to run an IDP camp for a year. But the procedures were there.

I once was qualified, out of my own dime, in Hazmat, Car Rescue, confined space rescue, Disasters and mountain rescue... and I used all of them in the ten years, disasters twice, the rest... many times. I still have my ropes for rappelling out of perfectly good buildings or the side of mountains.

Also if people told me it is dangerous, you may get shot at... so... we have a bloody target on the side of the ambulance, will help them aim... that is not something you can expect to see in the United States overall for EMS... and if you doubt this... I wore kevlar for seven of the ten years, and them mosquitoes are made of lead... but overall I went into scenes that Medics here don't dare enter without the police, such as domestic disputes... which are never fun...

But seeing this... it enrages me, I sent a long letter to the ARC... and took no prisoners... but they sorely need help. Problem is I doubt they will take it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

20. I'm awed. To take an organization of this magnitude and importance and

run it into the ground, endanger its reputation, and fail to provide needed and promised care to desperate people who have no other source - it is beyond despicable. I hope that ARC is reorganized with competent, caring top management and the GOP placeholders booted out before the harm becomes irreparable.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Well if this goes the way the Salvadoran Red Cross

did... you will see a volunteer revolt. DeKalb County has put them on notice

By the way all national societies have lots of dirty laundry at the top...

One thing you could do is demand the ICRC places monitors at National HQ in DC... there were many reasons, I was very young, why they put them in Mexico City after the Earthquake... these days, I know why...

But you could ask for that, point out that the neutrality principle of the Red Cross has been violated (GOP appointees), also I suspect their response has been colored by race and social status... another big no-no

Oh and I did sugest in teh logn letter I sent, the ARC needs to set up clinics in the inner city and ambulance service.. after all the gov'ment cannot and will not do it, and we have a need now, exposed for all to see... and that is the reason the Mexican Red Cross runs ambulances, the Feds and the State cannot do it... for that to happen many liability laws need to change but we need that to be done.

[savannahana]

17. hope, thank you for posting this

where i am, there continues to be a lot of confusion, defensiveness, & contention regarding the Red Cross generally

hard to refute (where i am), but you've just made it easier by far, so thank you

[Nothing Without Hope]

18. YVW. It really looks like the upper levels of the ARC have been "Bushed,"

packed with rich incompetent GOP donors. I have to believe there are a hell of a lot of profoundly disheartened, frustrated, and angry lower level volunteers, the people who actually want to CARE for people needing help.

Reading between the lines of this article, it looks to me like Mr. Jones took this step to publicize the ARC's profound mismanagement and serve notice that it would NOT be tolerated under his watch. DeKalb is not an obscure place, and what he did is going to send out some shock waves at least in Georgia and maybe more widely. Looking at the wording, it sounds like he's put the ball in their court and expects them to do some regrouping and rethinking if they want to play the role of a charity in DeKalb. The ARC has to be concerned, since a tarnished reputation would cut their donations and volunteers; they do NOT want a widely publicized scandal that makes them look as bad as FEMA. Will be interesting to see what happens next.

[savannahana]

21. shock waves *should* abound, far & wide

i think you've pegged it:

"I have to believe there are a hell of a lot of profoundly disheartened, frustrated, and angry lower level volunteers, the people who actually want to CARE for people needing help."

that's my hope in this mess; thus BRAVO, Mr. Jones!

thanks again, Hope, for bringing this to light

[Nothing Without Hope]

23. kick for the early morning crowd n/t

[ohio_liberal]

24. Wow!

I can't even imagine the Red Cross being kicked out of a county. They've got to have serious issues for this to happen.

[DemReadingDU]

25. Nominated #5

[elehhhhna]

28. 2 things strike me about this :

1--ARC is being asked/tasked to do the things FEMA should be doing--housing and long term assistance. WTF is FEMA? Why do they have globs of tax money but priovate donations to arc are paying for whatever services are being delivered.

2--ARC pays its Director 651K plus MASSIVE perks. That fact, in my estimation, should disqualify them from being considered a "charity".
(SA pays their national director under 20K, plus housing, ehich is not a manison by any stretch...)

okay, 3-- Liddy Dole(*) used to be Prez of ARC. What other evidence does one need to be convinced it's a Reep trough?

ARC blew it for me when they spent the 911 money elsewhere. They can't be trusted.




(*)

Liddy Dole's $875,000 in Payoffs for "Speeches"

Elizabeth Dole likes to point out that she didn't take her first year's salary ($200,000) as head of the Red Cross. She can be that generous because she earns hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for speeches, many of which were made to lobbyists trying to influence Bob Dole. From 1991 to 1994, Liddy earned $875,000 from giving speeches (at $12,000 to $35,000 each) on volunteerism. She also got many trips to resort locations, all expenses paid...

Her speeches -- worth $875,000 just during 1994-6 -- erupted into scandal when her promise to donate the money to charity was proven phony. And remember, that money did not go into campaign coffers, but directly went into Elizabeth Dole's bank accounts.

http://www.realchange.org/dole.htm

[paineinthearse]

29. Elisabeth Dole was president, 1991 - 2000.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Elizabeth Dole
Office: Senior Senator, North Carolina
Political party: Republican
Term of office: January 2003–Present
Preceded by: Jesse Helms
Succeeded by: Incumbent (2009)
Date of birth: July 29, 1936
Place of birth: Salisbury, North Carolina
Spouse: Robert Dole



Elizabeth Hanford "Liddy" Dole (born July 29, 1936) was elected to the United States Senate in 2002 to represent North Carolina for a term ending in 2009. She is a Republican.

Born Elizabeth Hanford in Salisbury, North Carolina, she attended Duke University, graduating in 1958, obtaining a master's degree from Harvard University in 1960 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1965.

She moved to Washington, DC as a Democrat in 1966, working on issues concerning the handicapped. In 1968 she became an independent and worked in the Nixon White House as executive director of the President's Committee for Consumer Interests. Nixon appointed her to a seven-year term on the Federal Trade Commission. In 1975, she became a Republican.

She married Senator Robert J. Dole as his second wife on December 6, 1975, but they have no children. She is the second spouse of a former Senator to be elected to the Senate from a different state from her spouse's (the first was Kansas Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum, who married former Tennessee Senator Howard Baker).

She was United States Secretary of Transportation from 1983 to 1987 under Ronald Reagan and United States Secretary of Labor from 1989 to 1990 under George H. W. Bush.

From 1991 to 2000 she was president of the American Red Cross.

[ellenfl]

30. my mother advised me not to donate to rc mainly

because of the breakdown of funds . . . what goes to recovery and what lines pockets. there are plenty of other charities to donate to and rc usually gets first money from others anyway. yes, the head of rc is a bushite. i saw an interview with her soon after katrina hit and decided to do as my mother advised.

i donated to habitat for humanity and 2 animal rescue charities. i like habitat because jimmie carter is a GOOD man with no partisanship exhibited in this charity.

ellen fl

[elehhhhna]

32. Habitat is a superb charity!

Hubs has managed building homes for them (his co assigns him) and they really get the job done right, fast, and for cheap because of donated labor & materials. They let anybody come 'round to swing a hammer but the trades contribute zillions of man-hours and expertise to throw those babies up so fast.

[paineinthearse]

31. Solicitation from my state party for the Red Cross

Suggestions how should I respond?

by email

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:29:15 +0000

Hello,

I know I do not need to express the importance of anything we can do to help. This will be a fun young professionals event for an incredible cause, and a lot of companies and others are helping out tremendously so that ALL of our proceeds can go to the Red Cross. We are just asking for your presence and any amount that you can afford to help with.

Let me know if you can make it. Also, please forward this on to any young professional you think of that might want to attend (it is a non-political event so feel free to invite anyone.) Hope to see you there.

P.S. I know that some of you that got this message are on the host committee or otherwise already attending. I look forward to seeing you there.

Brent Welder
Field Director
Massachusetts Democratic Party
617-776-2676
56 Roland St. Suite 203
Boston, MA 02129

Subject: invitation reminder

Dear Host Committee Member:

We've put together a reminder version of the Katrina Relied Event invitation for you to send to your lists to let folks know one more time that the event is coming up this Thursday. Please have your guests RSVP by email to [e-mail]

We are still collecting last minute raffle items. If you know of anyone who would like to contribute please let me know. Current items include Celtics tickets, a night at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, items from International Bicycle Centers, a golf bag, Blue Man Group tickets, and many other prizes. Tickets will be sold at the event for $5/ticket or 3 for $10.

Thank you for all of your help in putting this event together. Please let me know if you have any questions.

See you on Thursday -

Jesse

Event details

Thursday, Sept 22, 6:30-8:30PM
Bell in Hand
Union Street, Boston.

[paineinthearse]

34. Attn Mass DU'ers

This is wrong.

Please visit the state party forum and post your comments - http://p221.ezboard.com/fmassachusettsdemocraticpartyfrm7.showMessage?topicID=48.topic

[paineinthearse]

33. self-delete

[A Brand New World]

35. I made my donation to the Katrina effort to the Red Cross.

Almost immediately I regretted that decision and wished that I had made it to the Salvation Army. I wasn't impressed with the Red Cross' explanation on why they didn't respond to New Orleans quicker. Water (especially) and food would have helped to make that situation not spiral out of control.

[Nothing Without Hope]

36. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

37. kick - we need to watch this story and look for others. The ARC problems

have been widespread.

[Nothing Without Hope]

38. kick n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

39. Kick - keeping it alive a while longer n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

40. This must-read eyewitness thread shows that the WORKERS AND

VOLUNTEERS of Red Cross, the heart and soul of the organization, are still there, still working hard to save lives and give comfort despite the totally f**ked up management:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4856343
thread title: I have returned from my 10 day stint with Red Cross. (1st Impressions)

The management of the American Red Cross has been "Bushed" - stuffed with incompetent GOP political hacks that have damn near destroyed the organization's effectiveness and undermined the trust in it that it has long held with Americans. Their bungling and incompetence - and that is a euphemistic description - cost lives and untold trauma in the Katrina aftermath after they were entrusted with donations by thousands of Americans who expected them to deliver aid to the hurricane victims.

The management of American Red Cross must be reformed or mistrust and scandals will only grow and the country will lose what has been a great resource at the worst of times.

[Nothing Without Hope]

44. LA Times: "The Red Cross Money Pit" - The shocking, sorry TRUTH at last!!!

Excerpted and discussed in this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4878601#4878751

I also posted a version of the story at dKos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/25/95628/8554