Your feeling about 'The Red Cross'

[dhinojosa]

Poll question: Your feeling about 'The Red Cross'

Many members here on DU have been singing praises about the Red Cross here because they were affected by Hurricane Katrina and they have been receiving help from them. (Maddy McCall and BossHog are two that I remember well) There are also many members here who believe that the Red Cross is a sham and is profiteering on misfortune. Some of these people site the problems in San Diego during their major wildfire.

So the poll is, do you approve or disapprove of the way the 'Red Cross' performs emergency relief and assistance?

On edit: grammar

[jeff30997]

1. I approve.What's the alternative ? Nothing ?

[dhinojosa]

2. Don't know...I'll be damned to give money to Jesus-pushers

I donated to the Red Cross.

[MalibuChloe]

17. I just donated about an hour ago...

so please don't tell me they are a sham!

They always seem to be there to help people in a disaster - they may not be perfect, but nothing is.

[dhinojosa]

25. I didn't say they were.

I donated to the red cross too.

[Angry Girl]

15. >>>> THE LOUSIANA DISASTER RECOVERY FOUNDATION

Probably the BEST place to send your Hurrican Katrina donations to is

The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
http://www.katrina.louisiana.gov/donate.htm

founded by the Governor of Louisiana to protect the state's
independence from the federal government.

The foundation will provide immediate assistance to Louisiana's citizens and is also designed to support long-term family restoration and recovery by focusing on education, housing, health care, legal assistance and jobs.

Inquiries may be directed to LouisianaRecovery (AT) la.gov

Nightweed's Hurricane Katrina Aid Organizations

[iamjoy]

3. Mixed

overall, I approve. I mean, they could be more efficient, but at least they don't give you a sermon with your assistance.

[Der Blaue Engel]

4. I don't have a lot of faith in them

I can't site any proof of mishandling, though I've read it here on DU, and have heard it before.

My major beef with the Red Cross is their absurd, homophobic rules on donating blood.

As far as disaster relief, I defer to others with more information, but I always contribute to other relief sources.

[intheflow]

5. It is a huge organization.

And the larger the organization, the more opportunity for fraud and mismanagement on a massive scale. This has certainly happened at times in the National Red Cross and in individual Red Cross chapters.

However, I don't think it's wise to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The Red Cross has done and continues to do great work in alleviating suffering and assisting people who need it in emergencies and during wars. I want the resources of the Red Cross behind me if my house burns down, or a natural disaster strikes my hometown.

I just finished a week of volunteering with them in Houston. Yes, things were totally chaotic, but the Red Cross workers and volunteers were there nonetheless, standing with evacuees in frustration and hope. I stand in approval of the Red Cross.

[dhinojosa]

7. Things might get worse for Houston in the next few days..

Rita is headed your way, and who knows at what strength she will land with.

[intheflow]

13. I'm back home in Denver now.

Safe from hurricanes.

I do worry about evacuees having to relive anther major hurricane if Rita tracks towards Galveston/Houston. Houston would no doubt experience some severe flooding. But Houston would not get the huge tidal surges and Galveston is not built like a bowl. So na matter what, I don't think Rita will cause the same degree of chaos and suffering as Katrina did.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. It is not the volunteers who are the problem

they never are in any national society... in this case it is management.

[sui generis]

6. Other

The Red Cross needs to be much more open and transparent about how it works.

One of the things that makes people "disapprove" is the economic fact that people don't give to the red cross all year long. They get their funds in "windfalls" from disasters of historic proportion and the other "little" ones that don't rate the nightly news for weeks at a time get little or no money coming in.

If more people knew HOW the Red Cross worked, and if the Red Cross marketed itself better then it wouldn't be suffering these black eyes.

My opinion is that people who don't want to give to the Red Cross because they want to believe it's pointless, and who also don't give anywhere else (if they can) are just making up bullshit excuses not to live what they preach.

Notice I am not using the Hide smilie.

[blondeatlast]

27. I think you are on to something. I saw them in action here in Phoenix

during a tremendous heat wave, distibuting water, clean socks, and some clean up gear to the homeless.

All volunteers, out in tremendous heat (moreso than we usually have), doing great work. Often they work pretty quietly.

A friend whosehouse was destroyed in a fire got some excellent help from the RC; all it took was a quick phone call.

[The Stranger]

9. Didn't the Neocons start the assault on the Red Cross after 9/11?

There is an effort to make all emergency assistance "faith-based," thereby eliminating the need for the federal government and providing the opportunity to proselytize those in dire straits.

[dhinojosa]

10. I know the neocons attacked the Red Cross

I don't remember the faith based thing although I am not surprised.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. The red cross is not federal but an NGO

their attacks though are there for other reasons, in the words of AG Gonzales, the geneva inventions are quaint.

[Dangerously Amused]

12. ...

I voted "disapprove." Here's why:

I just posted this next part in the other Red Cross thread as a reason why some in my family don't care for RC.

---

This may help to clarify. My Dad and his two brothers were all in WWII. They also complained about the Red Cross because the RC a is highly organized business; the admin leaders make big sqalaries and the organization gets tons of money donated to them, and they always have nice new equipment and new uniforms. Which in and of itself is not bad, but yes, they sold little comfort items to the soldiers. Dad remembers apples and doughnuts being 25 cents, which was a LOT of money back them for those things. By contrast, when the Salvation Army came around they never had new equipment or nice uniforms, and they GAVE all those same things to the soldiers that the RC charged them for, just to brighten the soldiers day and make them feel remembered and appreciated.

So yeah, Pops and the Uncles have never been real fond of the RC and would never donate to them.

---

I've also recently read criticism of them in the news because although they take in enormous sums of money intended by the donor for a particular cause, they often spend only a small percentage of that amount for the intended cause, and hold the rest in reserve, "just in case." Just in case ...what? Just in case there's a worse disaster around the bend, I guess. But the criticism also discussed how the execs get huge salaries and spend a lot of money on slick advertising, basically that it's run more like a business than a charity.

The reason I haven't been impressed with them is because they didn't make any effort whatsoever to coordinate with the many animal rescue agencies who were right there willing to help, and they made people abandon their pets to get RC care.

[intheflow]

16. 81¢ on every dollar donated to the RC goes towards

direct relief. I'd say that's a pretty good percentage for such a large organization.

[Beaverhausen]

19. I thought I read it was 91 cents

Which is amazing. I support them totally.

[dhinojosa]

28. I feel good about them now....

I donated right when they said people were trapped in the Superdome and convention center.

[intheflow]

31. I got the 81¢ figure from

the last Red Cross training I went to, about two weeks ago. I'd rather it was 91¢, but 81¢ is pretty damn good, imo.

[Beaverhausen]

33. Here is the Red Cross page from Charity Navigator

Don't know how reliable this site is but it looks good to me.

they also agree on the 91 cents per dollar donated going to help.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/3277.htm

[Angry Girl]

14. The volunteers are good people but their bosses tend to be crooks

So I don't condemn the RC as a whole. It is composed by two very distinct groups of people. One is large, with very little power but trying to help others, and the other group is small, with great power but very busy trying to line their pockets.

[goclark]

18. Our best friends are from NO ,their cousin in Houston

has 24 members of her family living in her house. They are all ages and came only with the clothes on their backs -that is it!

Children are of all ages.

I am sending her money every week because I know the situation. Our friends call the house daily to check on their cousins and give hope to their loved ones.

I would rather give to a family that I KNOW is reaching out and helping someone.

Yesterday I was so touched because a friend of mine had heard about the situation from me. He dropped by yesterday with an envelope. He is a young man of 32.

I took the envelope and he asked me to please send it to the family in Texas.

When he left, I couldn't believe that it was a check for $50 !

His parents sure raised a compassionate son...

The red cross has been taking money and I'm sure giving it to help many people. As a teacher , we collected for them all the time. Children giving pennies constantly.

I was shocked to see their "office" over looking the lake in Switzerland in later years! We are talking mega estate $$$'s to maintain.

I was shocked to see Elizabeth Dole get her sweet job and her clone take her place in the little perfect $1000 suit.

I was not impressed with the lack of support to my Black Brothers and Sisters in New Orleans either.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Clarification the International Red Cross in Switzerland

has the building they have since tehy are running operations world wide... and they loose volunteers in war zones every year...

They need that, for comms and other needs

Very different animal from the American Red Cross, which is a national society...

[goclark]

26. thanks for the clarification - big difference nt

[HoosierClarkie]

20. From personal experience...

the volunteers really care and are doing everything they can to help the evacuees. As for the people in charge, I think their salaries are too high!

[Beaverhausen]

22. You can't attract experienced, qualified people at a low salary

Red Cross is a huge organization which needs very capable people running it. And compared to most CEO salaries their compensation is very low.

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. The problem with management is

that over the years it has been politicied, heavily politiced, loosing in some ways the neutrality principle

[intheflow]

32. And if you're the * administration,

and you're trying to hire for the head of FEMA, you attract and hire inexperienced, unqualified people at a high salary.

:grr:

[Dolomite]

21. "approve" - but I guess I'm biased

since I've volunteered about 100 hours of my time since Katrina hit to working the shelter here in Milwaukee (as well as working the phones at the local NBC affiliate during their fund raising efforts).

What I've been told is that 92% of the monetary donations go to programs helping Katrina survivors directly. Whether or no that's true, I don't know.

I've spoken to a few ARC vols that have just come back from Kiln, MS - they were in place BEFORE the storm came. They were 100% on their own until units from the Arkansas NG started patrolling their area and began helping them out - the Fed was nowhere and useless. They also admitted to "looting" in order to feed 400 people stuck in the school gymnasium.

[Eugene]

29. Favorable overall, but they have problems in the national organization.

A local Red Cross chapter helped my brother
with emergency shelter years ago.
They have helped many people around here.

However, I was disappointed with how
they handled all that donation money for 9/11
and how the misandled the blood supply
early in the AIDS pandemic.

They are okay by me, but for Katrina, I'm giving
to the Salvation Army.

[Rowdyboy]

30. They've had a mixed record here in Mississippi.....

In Hattiesburg and Laurel they've done good work. Here in Jackson they were HORRIBLY disorganized (almost as bad a FEMA). Overall, I'd give them a C+.