I Do Not Trust The Red Cross

[donnay]

They have been caught time and time again fraudulently mismanaging funds for victims and victims families. This corruption stems back as far as WWII-- charging soldiers for items donated. My grandfather told me these stories, and I didn't believe it until I heard it from others years later.

Last night I watched a Hurricane Relief special hosted by Matt Lauer. (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2012/10/matt-lauer-nbc-hurricane-sandy-telethon) It was a hour long concert to help conjure up money for the Red Cross. They are great in tearing at peoples heartstrings but not good at doing the job of getting aid to those who REALLY need it.

I have seen and heard the horror stories about how the Red Cross collects millions upon millions of dollars after a disaster and never disburse it in a timely manner or to the right people. I can list numerous accounts to prove what I am saying to be true or you can do a search, just type in Red Cross Fraud into a search engine and you'll find thousands of stories.

I am sure with some research there is some group trustworthy enough to donate to, that will give the victims the needed supplies and assurance they need. However, government and government cronies are not the ones to give to, IMHO.

I wanted to start this thread with hopes that others, here, might know of any organizational charities who have a good history of giving donations and donated supplies to the people who need it.

What is happening to the people in Staten Island, New York is what happened to people in the Super Dome in New Orleans and the victims who lost loved ones in 9/11, and the victims who lost loved on in the Oklahoma City Bombing.

[thoughtomator]

I never donate to charities; I've seen the inner workings of too many of them to trust them.

My donations go directly from my own hands and heart to people who need help, and whose need (and resolution thereof) I can witness with my own eyes.

[truelies]

My charity NEVER goes thru a corporate middleman. Anyway there are enough folks in need close to home that I see no reason to send aid to the kenyans voter heartland.

[ShaneEnochs]

I have trouble trusting the Salvation Army as well.

[phill4paul]

My brother gave me first hand accounts of their actions, or inactions, after Hurricane Andrew. That was the last time I contributed.

[donnay]

A perfect example:

Chaos, panic, starvation unleashed in NJ / NY while Bloomberg, Red Cross ignore devastated victims

Friday, November 02, 2012
by Mike Adams (http://www.naturalnews.com/037805_chaos_superstorm_sandy_apocalypse.html), the Health Ranger

The post-superstorm situation continues to deteriorate in the Northeast, with words like "chaos" "panic" and "starvation" now becoming increasingly common. Victims are dumpster diving for food, having gone hungry for several days. Fuel remains in desperately short supply, and tensions are running high throughout the region.

"With patience running thin and tension running high in the fight for fuel after Superstorm Sandy, the scene at area gas stations has been chaotic," reports CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57544181/gasoline-situation-increasingly-dire-in-days-after-sandy/?tag=AverageMixRelated). "The situation got so intense in Queens on Thursday, one man was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing after he tried to cut a line at a gas station and pointed a pistol at another motorist who complained."

Residents are currently waiting in line for six hours to get gasoline, and people are defecating in the hallways of residential buildings, as they have nowhere else to go. That shocking fact is revealing in this YouTube video.

"Police were in place at many spots to keep the peace between furious, frustrated drivers," reports Reuters. "Frustration grew for superstorm Sandy's victims in the U.S. Northeast on Friday, many of whom were left with no power, no gasoline and little information about when their shattered lives might return to normal."

"They forgot about us," said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been "annihilated."

Mayor Bloomberg uses generators, resources to run a marathon while NY citizens suffer and starve
Mayor Bloomberg has now abandoned Staten Island victims and has decided to redirect large power generators and police forces to a New York marathon being held today. What's emerging now is a political elite that is oblivious to the needs of the People. As Reuters reports:

"I just walked past four huge generators. Those could be put to use for people who need them," said Marjorie Dial, a tourist from Oregon who was shocked to see the generators in Central Park, where the marathon finishes. "What they've discovered on Staten Island should have been the tipping point - the bodies."

"Gas is being rationed in parts of New York and New Jersey. The pumps are running on empty -- and so is patience," reports CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57544181/gasoline-situation-increasingly-dire-in-days-after-sandy/?tag=AverageMixRelated). "That desperation is why there is so much panic buying at the pump." One fuel buyer said, "This is crazy, it's like post-apocalyptic scenarios, you know with this gas. It's as important as food and water to people. It's a dogfight out here."

Keeps getting worse by the day

Con Edison says power won't be restored to most customers until Nov. 10 or 11. Because gas stations need electricity to pump fuel, this means gasoline supplies won't be readily available to residents for another full week.

Over the next week, it's clear that the situation is going to erode even further. We're going to see more people begging for help, more chaos and more tensions rising. The political elite will, of course, continue to ignore the suffering of real victims just like we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

What we're watching here is the failure of FEMA and Big Government to help victims in the aftermath of a devastating storm. What we are witnessing is proof positive of the need for individual preparedness in an era of failed government.

Red Cross shows up with hot chocolate and cookies
Yep, cookies! As if the people there need hydrogenated oils, refined sugar and processed wheat to power through the apocalypse.

The response of the Red Cross is an INSULT to the people of New Jersey and New York. Cookies? Really? No blankets, no fuel, no superfoods, no real nutrition... just processed hot chocolate and cookies. Wow.

How pathetic is that? I guess there's no more reason to give money to the Red Cross. It just goes to buy processed crap that's handed out to bewildered victims who need REAL help!

Meanwhile, victims on Staten Island are saying things like, "I haven't had food in two days."

"We are far from fine, and the fact that the mayor wants to have a marathon this weekend, when we've had people who have lost their lives or house, everything they've worked for their whole lives … I mean, its unbelievable to me," Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said in a CBS News report. (http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/02/staten-islanders-on-sandy-response-weve-been-left-far-behind/)

[phill4paul]

and people are defecating in the hallways of residential buildings, as they have nowhere else to go.

5 gallon bucket with lid, lined with a trash bag, and peppered after use with cat litter or lime. Christ, these dependent's deserve to live in their filth.

[brandon]

Who do you trust?

[AngryCanadian]

I have trouble trusting the Salvation Army as well.

As a Canadian who lives in Canada, Ontario i can agree with you on that one, everyday when the holidays start, you would see at least two members from the Salvation Army standing at the malls with there buckets and asking you to give your money to the Salvation Army.

I always wondered where that money goes, definitely not towards to the children nor the poor.

[qh4dotcom]

You all forgot that many of the people the Red Cross gives aid to are Obama supporters or Romney supporters....so if you want to support tyranny, go ahead and donate to charities like the Red Cross....if you support liberty, donate to a liberty-minded candidate or a liberty PAC. They need the money more than the corrupt Red Cross. I have donated to Bentivolio, Amash and RandPAC and I refuse to donate to the Red Cross or any pro-Obama charity.

[angelatc]

I have trouble trusting the Salvation Army as well.

The Salvation Army is the only one I do trust. I know quite a few people who have told me positive stories of how they were helped. Everybody I know who has been in contact with The Red Cross has had nothing but frustration.

As an example, my former neighbor was stationed overseas when his mother died. His CO gave him time to fly home, but he didn't have money for a flight. The Red Cross said they would loan him the money, but it would take about a month to process the paperwork. The Salvation Army wired him the cash, and said "Pay us back some day if you can."

He has, several times over.

I have more of those stories, too. Other than people who hate Christians, I don't know anybody who says bad things about them.

[angelatc]

5 gallon bucket with lid, lined with a trash bag, and peppered after use with cat litter or lime. Christ, these dependent's deserve to live in their filth.

You might be right. When I was a kid, our city suffered a huge blizzard that shut off power and water to some people for a week. Now that you mention that, I remember one of my friends admitting that he and his roommates had pooped in plastic baggies, then ziplocked them shut and trucked them down to the dumpster. It hasn't been a week yet - nobody has thought about crapping in a bucket?

[PatriotOne]

The Rockefeller Foundation began its work in 1913 with the founder’s 39-year-old son, John D. Rockefeller Jr., as its president. The first grant, of $100,000, went to the American Red Cross to purchase property for its headquarters in Washington, DC. and for “a memorial to commemorate the services of the women of the United States in caring for the sick and wounded of the Civil War."

http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/who-we-are/our-history/

[tod evans]

You might be right. When I was a kid, our city suffered a huge blizzard that shut off power and water to some people for a week. Now that you mention that, I remember one of my friends admitting that he and his roommates had pooped in plastic baggies, then ziplocked them shut and trucked them down to the dumpster. It hasn't been a week yet - nobody has thought about crapping in a bucket?

Chamber pots were the norm for centuries, I suppose this is to be expected when knowledge is gleaned from television instead of books.

[rprprs]

The Salvation Army is the only one I do trust. I know quite a few people who have told me positive stories of how they were helped. Everybody I know who has been in contact with The Red Cross has had nothing but frustration.

As an example, my former neighbor was stationed overseas when his mother died. His CO gave him time to fly home, but he didn't have money for a flight. The Red Cross said they would loan him the money, but it would take about a month to process the paperwork. The Salvation Army wired him the cash, and said "Pay us back some day if you can."

He has, several times over.

I have more of those stories, too. Other than people who hate Christians, I don't know anybody who says bad things about them.
Agree. No first hand experience to report but, from what I've heard, they are, at the very least, a far better bet than the Red Cross.

[tod evans]

Our local starvation army is reputable.

[Chester Copperpot]

Ive had veterans tell me that during the war the red cross sucked.. they never did shit for them and they said never to donate to them..

The salvation army was praised.. said they would be there on the front lines with the troops having coffee and donuts and crap like that...

It sounds like little perhaps but I guess when youre on some tropical island 5,000 miles from home it sure means alot.

[MelissaWV]

1. If it was during a blizzard, you could probably chuck the plastic baggies outside for the contents to freeze up; double insurance on avoiding any smells. Families with diaper genies or similar devices have hopefully already made the leap to using a similar method for adults, and have a long line of frozen pool-float-looking things rather than a hallway full of poop.
2. Charities used to depend on their reputation. I prefer to donate each year to places that directly helped me when I was in the most trouble. There are also individuals that I trust who might be collecting, say, clothing or food or blankets for a group in an area. Last year at work they put together massive hampers (the hampers themselves were a boon) full of such items, and they were taken directly to families who needed them.

I will say that the Salvation Army, at least when I worked at a grocery store many years ago, would give a good portion of the money raised by those bell-ringers to the bell-ringer. This person was generally someone functional but unable to work at the time for some reason. I have never heard anything good about the Red Cross.

[Anti Federalist]

5 gallon bucket with lid, lined with a trash bag, and peppered after use with cat litter or lime. Christ, these dependent's deserve to live in their filth.

Honestly, for fucks sake, shitting in the halls?

Oh well, they just don't know any better, they need more education, then they'll love freedom and also not shit in the hall.

My aching ass.

[specsaregood]

Chamber pots were the norm for centuries, I suppose this is to be expected when knowledge is gleaned from television instead of books.

I was just saying the other day after watching a season of the tudors that I never heard mention of chamber pots or discussion of their evacuation methods.

[Nirvikalpa]

You people are insane: the Red Cross has to mobilize and get flights for people going to disaster areas, OR drive the Emergency Response Vehicles directly into the disaster region. Some ERV's going to SI were coming in from Florida, and out west - it's not a trip that takes a day or two. Volunteers flying in have had to deal with airport closings - and then once they got here - car rentals, bridge closings, HOV restrictions, and the gas shortages, which they are still dealing with today.

I've been a disaster services volunteer for the RC for... 6 years now. I'm not going to even bother trying to change anyone's mind about any organization, and anyone who is curious about my own personal role can search for the Joplin tornado thread. It's quite simple with the majority of you people; bith and moan about the gov't, and bitch and moan about the private charities that compete against gov't interaction. Don't like the national red cross? Donate to your local chapter, which helps aid local disasters - fires, floods, etc. If you don't like that idea, donate to the Salvation Army or to Samaritan's Purse, the Convoy of Hope, Disaster Relief International, or the slew of other non-profits that make a difference. Don't knock it til you try it?

And to whoever posted about "my friend said all the people the red cross helps ends in more headache," your friend must not known many the red cross has helped then.

Sorry for typos, I'm on my phone as my power has went out - again. And don't forget that the people at the front lines of the red cross that respond locally to disasters such as this almost always have been impacted by the disaster themselves, but still find time to help their neighbor.

[opal]

GoodWill is also on my useless list next to the red cross. It might have just been a local problem but I was in one their stores one morning when a woman with three young kids (school age but young) all dirty.. smokey.. hadn't slept. Their residence had burned during the night and a fireman told them they should go to goodwill and get some clean clothes so the kids could go to school.
the moron at the counter, when asked, pretty much told them they could SHOP for whatever they needed and pay on the way out.

An older woman that was shopping volunteered to get the kids an outfit each and amost every other shopper in the store left - without buying anything (me included and I never went back)

help for the needy - indeed

[Anti Federalist]

You people are insane

All I know is that, in the wake of the OKC bombing, people were sending money directly to the people affected.

Red Cross managed to convince the postal service to divert people's mail to them, where they then confiscated cash donations for themselves.

Which was then held to fund other things than OKC relief, including political action.

This was pretty well documented, and IIRC they did it again after 9/11.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&sqi=2&ved=0CE8QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.friedfrank.com%2FsiteFiles%2F Publications%2F87806DEA1C8D54AB232129801B3FF261.pd f&ei=tEmVUKyUFNLW0gGE8YHgBw&usg=AFQjCNGwNd8fEoC5_Vah05xg8Ug8bZx0Sg

That said, I highly encourage direct relief to people.

For instance, is there anything the forum or I can do for you and Malk, to help you guys out?

[Carole]

I have heard that Samaritan's Purse and The Salvation Army are reliable groups regarding donations. Still, I suggest you do your own research on these groups.

Sometimes groups not "approved by"/"associated with" FEMA and the PTB are not allowed to participate in rendering aid however. This happened in the Katrina disaster from what I read following that crisis.

[MoneyWhereMyMouthIs2]

You might be right. When I was a kid, our city suffered a huge blizzard that shut off power and water to some people for a week. Now that you mention that, I remember one of my friends admitting that he and his roommates had pooped in plastic baggies, then ziplocked them shut and trucked them down to the dumpster. It hasn't been a week yet - nobody has thought about crapping in a bucket?


I've thought about crapping in a bucket, and I'm 1,000 miles away from the disaster area. Nothing wrong with my plumbing, either.

The whole state of the world makes me feel like crapping in a bucket.

[alucard13mmfmj]

Alex Jones says the Red Cross are scammers and the Salvation Army is more legit.

If you know someone there, I'd just send them money directly.

I think ground/bottom level people of the Red Cross is legit, but I think the management and upper ranks of the red cross might be fishy.

[Barrex]

I dont know anything about Red Crosses crimes in the past and dont have any favorable opinion about it but like I wrote in other thread: Red Cross doesnt have teleporters. I prefer Caritas over Red Cross but be realistic people. After just 3 days people started with hysteria and outright retarded behavior (defecating in hallways, "we are abandon", Red Cross is evil... and this stuff I can not understand no matter how hard I tried). People in western world have become too soft. To reliant on electricity, their Ipads, PC-s, Cable TV, cars and consumerist society where everything is available 24/7. For crying out loud its been only 3 days!!!! This got nothing to do with being a prepper or not. If you cant survive 3 days without electricity and gasoline.... if you didnt get food for more than 3 days and you knew that storm is coming....

I honestly can not comprehend it and would appreciate if someone could explain it to me.

[tod evans]

I honestly can not comprehend it and would appreciate if someone could explain it to me.

I can't........

[MelissaWV]

I dont know anything about Red Crosses crimes in the past and dont have any favorable opinion about it but like I wrote in other thread: Red Cross doesnt have teleporters. I prefer Caritas over Red Cross but be realistic people. After just 3 days people started with hysteria and outright retarded behavior (defecating in hallways, "we are abandon", Red Cross is evil... and this stuff I can not understand no matter how hard I tried). People in western world have become too soft. To reliant on electricity, their Ipads, PC-s, Cable TV, cars and consumerist society where everything is available 24/7. For crying out loud its been only 3 days!!!! This got nothing to do with being a prepper or not. If you cant survive 3 days without electricity and gasoline.... if you didnt get food for more than 3 days and you knew that storm is coming....
I honestly can not comprehend it and would appreciate if someone could explain it to me.

The only thing I thought of recently is that the storm hit towards the end of the month. I don't know why I hadn't realized what that means before.

The areas we are seeing the loudest outcry from does have a fairly high population of people on foodstamps. Those are issued towards the beginning of the month, most times, and there would not have been much left over towards the end to buy extra for hurricane preparedness. No, that is not me excusing bad behavior, but it is curious that people depending on the Government to feed them are now left high and dry for a good while. Their electronic cards will not work now, and they could not stock up on food, and now they have to wait for aid to navigate the red tape and the disaster zone to bring them MREs.

[Ender]

Alex Jones says the Red Cross are scammers and the Salvation Army is more legit.

If you know someone there, I'd just send them money directly.

I think ground/bottom level people of the Red Cross is legit, but I think the management and upper ranks of the red cross might be fishy.

What Jones says is exactly my experience. The Salvation Army is a much more honest organization.

As far as first responders in disasters, the LDS Church usually beats everyone as far as food, medicine, and needs go.

[AGRP]

The Red Cross blew it with Katrina. I remember them getting so much money that they used it for international purposes and other reasons other than Katrina. A fool and their money is easily parted. If you really appreciated your money and those people then you would do your research and find a local organization that is trustworthy. Heck, I bet you could give your money to a local business that would do a great job on your behalf.

[kathy88]

I was a blood drive coordinator for the Red Cross. Our office " came with" a couple who volunteered prior to my hiring. They embezzled thousands over the course of five or six years and three office managers were fired because they convinced our main office it was them.

[angelatc]

I was a blood drive coordinator for the Red Cross. Our office " came with" a couple who volunteered prior to my hiring. They embezzled thousands over the course of five or six years and three office managers were fired because they convinced our main office it was them.

Wow. Speaking as someone who has caught 4 people embezzling over the years, there's no excuse for not being able to figure out who is actually doing it. That's horribly sloppy accounting.

[ord33]

I know for a fact the Red Cross was terrible during WWII. My Papa was a POW from the Battle of the Bulge and when the war was finally over he had lost 60 pounds and he was on a flight back to some base. The Red Cross was there and wouldn't even give him a coffee and they tried to charge him money for it. Naturally, after being a POW he didn't have a penny on him. So he couldn't even get a fricking coffee from them after having frostbit feet and suffering from malnutrition eating primarily turnips (if he was lucky) as a POW. He despises the Red Cross to this day.

[Brian4Liberty]

I've thought about crapping in a bucket, and I'm 1,000 miles away from the disaster area. Nothing wrong with my plumbing, either.

The whole state of the world makes me feel like crapping in a bucket.

Someone crapped on the sidewalk next to the grocery store. But hey, it's California, and that's how we roll...

[idiom]

The insult is not cookies but the fact that Americans cant go three days without a supermarket.

[donnay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhoomhmsAc



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0n8-mXk1KE&feature=related


Another Flash back:

Don't Give Your Hurricane Donations to the Red Cross Establishment charities have history of withholding disaster funds

By Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones (http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/katrina_no_red_cross.htm)
September 1 2005

As the aftermath of hurricane Katrina continues to wreak mayhem and havoc amid reports of mass looting, shooting at rescue helicopters, rapes and murders, establishment media organs are promoting the Red Cross as a worthy organization to give donations to.

The biggest website in the world, Yahoo.com, displays a Red Cross donation link prominently on its front page.

Every time there is a major catastrophe the Red Cross and similar organizations like United Way are given all the media attention while other charities are left in the shadows. This is not to say that the vast majority of Red Cross workers are not decent people who simply want to help those in need.

But what the media fails consistently to remember in their promotion of the organization is that the Red Cross have been caught time and time again withholding money in the wake of horrible disasters that require immediate release of funds.

The Red Cross, under the Liberty Fund, collected $564 million in donations after 9/11. Months after the event, the Red Cross had distributed only $154 million. (http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2005/030105redcross.htm) The Red Cross' explanation for keeping the majority of the money was that it would be used to help 'fight the war on terror'. To the victims, this meant that the money was going towards bombing broken backed third world countries like Afghanistan and setting up surveillance cameras and expanding the police state in US cities, and not towards helping them rebuild their lives.

Then Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy arrogantly responded when questioned about the withholding of funds by stating, "The Liberty Fund is a war fund. It has evolved into a war fund."

Despite the family members of victims of 9/11 complaining bitterly to a House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel, the issue seemed to be brushed under the carpet and the mud didn't stick.

The Red Cross' scandalous activities reach back far before 9/11.

After the devastating San Francisco earthquake in 1989, the Red Cross passed on only $10 million of the $50 million that had been raised, and banked the rest.

Similar donations after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the Red River flooding in 1997 were also greedily withheld.

Smaller charities that were involved with the 2004 Tsunami relief project went public to say that large charities like Red Cross and United Way were engaged in secret backroom negotiations with each other that meant a large portion of the donation money was purposefully restricted from reaching the most needy areas affected by the disaster.

The history is clear, the Red Cross and other large so-called charities are in actual fact front group collection agencies for the military industrial complex.

Many informed historians have even alleged that the Red Cross was used as a Skull and Bones cover to overthrow The Russian Czar and pave the way for the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Do not give any money to the Red Cross unless you support the expansion of empire abroad and police state at home. Find a smaller trustworthy organization in the local area of New Orleans and make your donation to them.


Sources:
http://www.whale.to/b/red_cross1.html
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/09/05/red_cross_ceo_pulled_down_651957_salary_bush_straf es_new_orleans.htm
http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/charitable_impulse.pdf

Another Flash Back:

October 20, 2005

A Bait-and-Switch Charity
The Scandalous History of the Red Cross

By JOE ALLEN (http://web.archive.org/web/20051026011917/http://www.counterpunch.org/allen10202005.html)

In recent years, the image of the Red Cross has been tarnished. The worst scandal came after the September 11 attacks, when it was revealed that a large portion of the hundreds of millions of dollars donated to the organization went not to survivors or family members of those killed, but to other Red Cross operations, in what was described by chapters across the country as a "bait-and-switch" operation.

Recently, long-simmering concerns about the Red Cross' disaster relief operations were expressed by Richard Walden, of the humanitarian group Operation USA, in the Los Angeles Times--prompting a vitriolic response by the Red Cross.

But these recent scandals are nothing new for the Red Cross. In fact, the whole history of the organization is one gigantic scandal--stretching from its racist policies toward African Americans to its corporate mentality toward human beings.

It is a tribute to the feebleness of the U.S. media--and the Red Cross' powerful Republican allies--that an institution with such a dubious history continues as the symbol of "humanitarian leadership," when it should have been replaced by a far more effective agency decades ago.

* * *

The Red Cross was founded in 1881 by Clara Barton, who became famous during the Civil War for organizing the distribution of food and medical supplies to Union Army soldiers.

The Red Cross is specifically mandated, according to its Congressional charter adopted in 1905, to "carry out a system of national and international relief in time of peace, and apply that system in mitigating the suffering caused by pestilence, famine, fire, floods and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry out measures preventing those calamities." The organization was also to carry out its work in accordance with the Geneva Conventions concerning the treatment of prisoners of war. Later, the Red Cross would also be entrusted with control of a large part of the nation's blood supply.

But who got relief after disasters has always been affected by the racism that has been part of the Red Cross' long history.

For example, during the Great 1927 Flood that destroyed large parts of the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana, Black farm laborers and sharecroppers without a doubt suffered the most. As John Barry documents in his epic history of the flood, Rising Tide, delta plantation owners refused to evacuate them out of the region for fear--rightly--that most wouldn't return to their miserable, slave-like conditions.

The Red Cross came in to provide temporary housing and food aid. What African Americans of the Delta got was prison-like camps where they were routinely beaten by white, racist National Guardsmen. Food distributed by the Red Cross was given to whites first, and if anything was left, it went to Black survivors.

On the eve of the Second World War, the Red Cross stockpiled large amounts of blood because of techniques developed by the brilliant African American scientist Dr. Charles Drew. Drew himself became director of the Red Cross's Blood Bank in 1941, but resigned his position after the War Department ordered that the blood of Black and white donors be segregated.

Drew called the order "a stupid blunder," but the Red Cross complied and imposed Jim Crow in the blood supply. The Red Cross even initially refused to accept the donation of blood by African Americans at the beginning of the war effort--though it was willing to accept cash donations from them. Throughout the war, the NAACP investigated complaints by Black servicemen of racist treatment by Red Cross.

The Red Cross desegregated the blood supply after the Second World War nationally, but it allowed its Southern chapters to continue segregating blood through the 1960s.

People who think of the Red Cross as a "private charity" would be shocked to discover its actual legal status.

Congress incorporated the Red Cross to act under "government supervision." Eight of the 50 members of its board of governors are appointed by the president of the United States, who also serves as honorary chairperson. Currently, the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security are members of the board of governors.

This unique, quasi-governmental status allows the Red Cross to purchase supplies from the military and use government facilities--military personnel can actually be assigned to duty with the Red Cross. Last year, the organization received $60 million in grants from federal and state governments. However, as one federal court noted, "A perception that the organization is independent and neutral is equally vital."

The leading administrators and officials of the Red Cross are almost always drawn from the corporate boardroom or the military high command. Among the past chairs and presidents of the Red Cross are seven former generals or admirals and one ex-president.

The current president Marty Evans is a retired rear admiral and a director of the investment firm Lehman Brothers Holdings. Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, the chair of the Red Cross, is also CEO of Pace Communications, whose clients include United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and AT&T--a group of companies known for their vicious treatment of workers.

The Red Cross has become particularly tied up with the Republican Party in recent decades. Both McElveen-Hunter and Evans are Bush appointees--for her part, McElveen-Hunter has donated over $130,000 to the Republican Party since 2000.

* * *

THOUGH IT is technically a nonprofit, the Red Cross is run more like profit-hungry corporation than what most people think a "charity" would act like. The most deadly example of this was the Red Cross' criminally negligent response to the early stages of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

The Red Cross has been for many decades, and remains today, the largest blood bank in the country. In 1982 and especially 1983, when it would have possible to contain the outbreak--or at least stop the spread of the disease through infusions of infected blood--major blood banks, led by the Red Cross, opposed national testing of blood for HIV.

The Red Cross' opposition was based on the financial cost. As investigative journalist Judith Reitman wrote in her book Bad Blood: "It appeared it would be cheaper to pay off infected blood recipients, should they pursue legal action, than to up the Red Cross blood supply."

Earlier this year, the Canadian Red Cross pleaded guilty to distributing contaminated blood supplies that infected thousands of Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C in the 1980s. This scandal is a large part of why the Canadian Red Cross was removed from running the country's blood supply in the late 1990s--but not the American Red Cross.

Enron-style bookkeeping, deceptive advertising and outright theft of funds have also been a big part of the Red Cross' recent history.

For years, the organization has been criticized for raising money for one disaster, and then withholding a large chunk of it for other operations and "fundraising." For example, the Red Cross raised around $50 million for the victims of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake in San Francisco, but it's estimated that only $10 million was ever turned over to the victims.

Similar charges were made against the Red Cross following fundraising operations after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and a San Diego fire in 2001. There was also a huge scandal involving the embezzlement of millions of dollars in donations in the New Jersey chapter in the late 1990s.

These scandals and the potentially embarrassing political fallout from them were muffled by the media and the Red Cross' political allies. But the truth couldn't be contained after September 11.

Soon after the attacks, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who was appointed president of the Red Cross in 1999, appealed for donations to help survivors and the families of those killed. In record-breaking time, the organization raised nearly $543 million.

Then the controversy began. A congressional investigation revealed that--though it had promised that all 9/11 donations would all go to victims' families--the Red Cross held back more than half of the $543 million. During congressional hearings, Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.)--soon to become a lobbyist for Big Pharma--declared: "What's at issue here is that a special fund was established for these families. It was specially funded for this event, September 11. And it is being closed now because we're told enough money's been raised in it, but we're also told, by the way, we're going to give two-thirds of it away to other Red Cross needs."

Healy was forced to resign, and her successors promised to allocate all of the money to September 11 survivors and their families.

* * *

THE HURRICANE Katrina catastrophe on the Gulf Coast has revealed the same old problems with the Red Cross. In late September, the organization was ordered out of a suburban Atlanta relief center because, according to the New York Times, its "application process had resulted in long lines and the group had made false promises of financial payments."

In an even more bizarre incident in Chicago, students were turned away from volunteering for a multi-agency relief center because they refused to sign a loyalty oath to the U.S. government!

Some more scrutiny of the Red Cross is beginning to take place. As Richard Walden, of Operation USA, wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "Its fundraising vastly outruns its programs because it does very little or nothing to rescue survivors, provide direct medical care or rebuild houses."

Walden noted (and the Red Cross now confirms) that the organization has raised $1 billion in pledges and gifts for hurricane relief. He also revealed that "FEMA and the affected states are reimbursing the Red Cross under pre-existing contracts for emergency shelter and other disaster services. The existence of these contracts is no secret to anyone but the American public."

How many people would donate to the Red Cross if they knew all this?

In the richest country in the history of the world, it is a travesty that such an organization is responsible for lifesaving. We deserve so much better.

[sparebulb]

For you, Donnay:

plus one rep

[juleswin]

I also do not trust the red cross but its not because I think they do not help people but because I think they skim too much off the top from their donations. Believe you me, if they did not provide help to people or act in a manner many people are reporting in this thread to the majority of the people, not even govt support will save them from the bad reputation that will shut them down.

Personally, I believe most charities are ways for rich people to hide their money from taxes, think the Gates foundation. So for me, I try as much as possible to follow my donations and charities that I support. Weekend work fixing homes for the elderly, grass cutting, food banks etc all local and very easy to verify. But on the other hand, what can you do about people who run out of supply after 3 days? not even the most perfect charity group is going to help such a person. You have warning of a hurricane and you don't even store water and food? And please its not about being dependent on food stamp, at least store water and buy cheap cheap store brand cereals and powdered milk. That alone should hold you for weeks without supermarkets.

Also I wouldn't be too quick to believe the stories of people defecating in their own hallway, kinda reminds me of the baby rape stories from the superdome. If there is something I know about human beings and most animals, they usually don defecate on their own door steps, especially when their door step is an open area like a hallway

[donnay]

Red-Cross | Ripoff Report | Complaints Reviews Scams Lawsuits Frauds Reported
http://www.ripoffreport.com/directory/Red-Cross.aspx

[headhawg7]

I have seen A LOT of Red Cross advertisements on TV the last couple days. A lot. Almost as many as Geico.

[cindy25]

most organizations, from charities to churches to political campaigns have overpaid administrators. the head of the Red cross is paid $1 million a year, and Jesse Benton was surely paid more than what he was worth

[AGRP]

I have seen A LOT of Red Cross advertisements on TV the last couple days. A lot. Almost as many as Geico.

The money they have gotten over the past decade or two should cover at least the next few disasters. There shouldnt be anyone in need right now if they did what they claim to do.

[angelatc]

GoodWill is also on my useless list next to the red cross. It might have just been a local problem but I was in one their stores one morning when a woman with three young kids (school age but young) all dirty.. smokey.. hadn't slept. Their residence had burned during the night and a fireman told them they should go to goodwill and get some clean clothes so the kids could go to school.
the moron at the counter, when asked, pretty much told them they could SHOP for whatever they needed and pay on the way out.

An older woman that was shopping volunteered to get the kids an outfit each and amost every other shopper in the store left - without buying anything (me included and I never went back)

help for the needy - indeed

THat's not what Goodwill's mission is. In fact, it's the Red Cross that is supposed to show up after a fire.

[phill4paul]

THat's not what Goodwill's mission is. In fact, it's the Red Cross that is supposed to show up after a fire.

The Goodwill mission statement is to provide opportunities for persons with barriers to employment to work and live more independently in the community. However, locally they rely on court ordered community service workers as opposed to hires. Scratch them off my list as well.

[KCIndy]

Here's an informative charity information list from Forbes.com:

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2011/14/200-largest-us-charities-11_rank.html

It lists the top 200 U.S. based charities. Click on the charity name and you'll get the "top salary" information.

[donnay]

Is Occupy Wall Street Outperforming the Red Cross in Hurricane Relief?

Katherine Goldstein
The Slatest (http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/11/04/occupy_sandy_hurricane_relief_being_led_by_occupy_ wall_street.html)
Sun, 04 Nov 2012 14:59 CST

In Sunset Park, a predominantly Mexican and Chinese neighborhood in South Brooklyn, St. Jacobi's Church was one of the go-to hubs for people who wanted to donate food, clothing, and warm blankets or volunteer help other New Yorkers who were still suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. On Saturday, Ethan Murphy, one of the people heading the kitchen operation, estimated they would prepare and send out 10,000 meals to people in need. Thousands and thousands of pounds of clothes were being sorted, labeled, and distributed, and valuable supplies like heaters and generators were being loaded up in cars to be taken out to the Rockaways, Staten Island and other places in need. However, this well-oiled operation wasn't organized by the Red Cross, New York Cares, or some other well-established volunteer group. This massive effort was the handiwork of none other than Occupy Wall Street - the effort is known as Occupy Sandy.

The scene at St. Jacobis on Saturday was friendly, orderly chaos. Unlike other shelters that had stopped collecting donations or were looking for volunteers with special skills such as medical training, Occupy Sandy was ready to take anyone willing to help. A wide range of people pitched in, including a few small children making peanut butter sandwiches, but most volunteers were in their 20s and 30s. A large basement rec room had become a hive of vegetable chopping and clothes bagging. They held orientations throughout the day for new volunteers. One of the orientation leaders, Ian Horst, who has been involved with a local group called Occupy Sunset Park for the past year, says he was "totally blown away by the response" and the sheer numbers of people who showed up and wanted to help. He estimated that he'd given an orientation to 200 people in the previous hour.

By midday, a line stretched all the way down the block of people who'd already attended orientation and were waiting for rides to be dispatched to volunteer. Kiley Edgley and Eric Schneider had been waiting about 20 minutes and were toward the front of the line. Like several people I spoke to, the fact that this effort was being organized by the occupy movement wasn't a motivating factor - they found out about the opportunity to volunteer online and just wanted to help.

So how did an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, best known as a leaderless movement that brought international attention to issues of economic injustice through the occupation of Zucotti Park in the financial district last year, become a leader in local hurricane relief efforts? Ethan Murphy, who was helping organize the food at St. Jacobis and had been cooking for the occupy movement over the past year, explained there wasn't any kind of official decision or declaration that occupiers would now try to help with the hurricane aftermath. "This is what we do already, " he explained: Build community, help neighbors, and create a world without the help of finance. Horst said, "We know capitalism is broken, so we have already been focused on organizing to take care of our own [community] needs." He sees Occupy Sandy as political ideas executed on a practical level.

As frustration grows around the city about the pace and effectiveness of the response from FEMA, and other government agencies and the Red Cross, I imagine both concerned New Yorkers and storm victims alike will remember who was out on the front lines.

[Cowlesy]

All the Red Cross people I've met have been super nice individuals. Back home, they helped by giving us free basic first aid/cpr training, doing blood drives, etc. I'm sorry there are a couple stories out there of people in the organization doing bad things, but all the folks I've met from it I'd hope to see in a disaster/emergency.

It's a pretty huge organization, so it doesn't surprise me there have been some bad apples over the years. I think you would see that in almost any organization.

Victims shouldn't look to them as the end-all, be-all, but rather as assistance. Nothing can substitute for personal emergency preparedness.

[tod evans]

Hat's off to the folks at St. Jacobi's Church.

[donnay]

All the Red Cross people I've met have been super nice individuals. Back home, they helped by giving us free basic first aid/cpr training, doing blood drives, etc. I'm sorry there are a couple stories out there of people in the organization doing bad things, but all the folks I've met from it I'd hope to see in a disaster/emergency.

It's a pretty huge organization, so it doesn't surprise me there have been some bad apples over the years. I think you would see that in almost any organization.

Victims shouldn't look to them as the end-all, be-all, but rather as assistance. Nothing can substitute for personal emergency preparedness.

Yes like bringing hot chocolate and cookies to Staten Island when people were without food for as much as three days. The hot chocolate doesn't help keep you warm throughout the night. I would expect some homemakers to bring those items, and I would expect the Red Cross to bring aid to those in need--but that is not what is happening. Yes they are a huge organization with lots of bureaucrats hut-hutting around, looking like they help. Sorry they don't get a pass from me.

[Demigod]

From my experience red cross primarily educates.They have a lot of volunteers that they teach basic first aid,disaster relief training and even send them on seminars and training abroad.The volunteers are rotated in a couple of years.If volunteers are needed to help somewhere else,like for example the disaster in Japan there was a 2000 euro reward to help with distribution of supplies .

In my country I have never seen them asking for money.Here money donation works directly,someone who needs money contacts the media and organizations that can help ,then the media reports on it and at the end there is bank account or a phone number where you can donate money.The organizations all have big companies sponsors,and so does the Red Cross.

It all comes down to your respective national Red Cross and how organized they are.In any case to expect a serious help to come in less than 2-3 days is naive at least.Not being able to survive for 3 days with prior warning is a disaster but from a social point.

.

[Demigod]

Yes like bringing hot chocolate and cookies to Staten Island when people were without food for as much as three days. The hot chocolate doesn't help keep you warm throughout the night. I would expect some homemakers to bring those items, and I would expect the Red Cross to bring aid to those in need--but that is not what is happening. Yes they are a huge organization with lots of bureaucrats hut-hutting around, looking like they help. Sorry they don't get a pass from me.

And I would expect for those people to have the mental capacity to be able to prepare 3 days of food and water when they have a prior warning that a natural disaster will occur in that region.

Do you know how much supplies are needed to feed a city? or even part of a city when the city in question is New York.It would take them at least a week to just start driving in food.Even if they start to give out food they have to have enough for everyone because if they don't they will start a riot for who to get food first.

Instead of complaining how private charities are not that efficient blame sorry excuses for human beings that can not take care of their basic needs.
.

[donnay]

And I would expect for those people to have the mental capacity to be able to prepare 3 days of food and water when they have a prior warning that a natural disaster will occur in that region.

Do you know how much supplies are needed to feed a city? or even part of a city when the city in question is New York.It would take them at least a week to just start driving in food.Even if they start to give out food they have to have enough for everyone because if they don't they will start a riot for who to get food first.


.

Oh I agree people should have been more prepared...but have you seen some of the devastation in that area? Some people have no house to go to...so if they stocked up for a weeks worth of food, how is that going to help them if that food was in the home that was destroyed?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxPZtpYidHs&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU3Ln5-wQSA&feature=relmfu

[specsaregood]

Do you know how much supplies are needed to feed a city? or even part of a city when the city in question is New York.It would take them at least a week to just start driving in food.Even if they start to give out food they have to have enough for everyone because if they don't they will start a riot for who to get food first.


Walmart, Target, shoprite, wegmans, i'd wager any of them could get sufficient supplies there in 24hours if given support/access/money.

[tod evans]

Walmart, Target, shoprite, wegmans, i'd wager any of them could get sufficient supplies there in 24hours if given support/access/money.

Yup, get the cops out of the way and there's instant food, gas too.


Don't worry, Bloomy has a plan.

[Acala]

You people are insane: the Red Cross has to mobilize and get flights for people going to disaster areas, OR drive the Emergency Response Vehicles directly into the disaster region. Some ERV's going to SI were coming in from Florida, and out west - it's not a trip that takes a day or two. Volunteers flying in have had to deal with airport closings - and then once they got here - car rentals, bridge closings, HOV restrictions, and the gas shortages, which they are still dealing with today.

I've been a disaster services volunteer for the RC for... 6 years now. I'm not going to even bother trying to change anyone's mind about any organization, and anyone who is curious about my own personal role can search for the Joplin tornado thread. It's quite simple with the majority of you people; bith and moan about the gov't, and bitch and moan about the private charities that compete against gov't interaction. Don't like the national red cross? Donate to your local chapter, which helps aid local disasters - fires, floods, etc. If you don't like that idea, donate to the Salvation Army or to Samaritan's Purse, the Convoy of Hope, Disaster Relief International, or the slew of other non-profits that make a difference. Don't knock it til you try it?

And to whoever posted about "my friend said all the people the red cross helps ends in more headache," your friend must not known many the red cross has helped then.

Sorry for typos, I'm on my phone as my power has went out - again. And don't forget that the people at the front lines of the red cross that respond locally to disasters such as this almost always have been impacted by the disaster themselves, but still find time to help their neighbor.

To me, the first-hand testimony of a liberty-loving supporter of the movement who is actually AT THE FRONT working with the RC is worth about a million Alex Jones tirades and ancient anecdotes of incidents from someone somebody used to know.

[Pericles]

I, like many of the other vets quoted, could add to the Red Cross stories, but that would be redundant. The only thing those rat bastards will get from me, or almost any other vet is a hard time.

Can't say enough good things about the Salvation Army. They use the resources they have, to help people who need it. Same with the USO, if you really want to "support the troops".

[HOLLYWOOD]

The Red Cross blew it with Katrina. I remember them getting so much money that they used it for international purposes and other reasons other than Katrina. A fool and their money is easily parted. If you really appreciated your money and those people then you would do your research and find a local organization that is trustworthy. Heck, I bet you could give your money to a local business that would do a great job on your behalf.Look's like RPF had a nice thread from 2008 on the RED CROSS... "RED CROSS Strapped For Cash"

Good work to all the posters in that thread!

Katrina disaster the RED CROSS had to borrow $400 Million, but paid it off quickly when they received over $2 BILLION in donations.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?143404-Red-Cross-strapped-for-cash!&highlight=RED+CROSS

Love this one:
According to Forbes, http://snurl.com/2koab
Forbes.com:Forbes Charities 2004 audit [www_forbes_com] , the woman who ran it(RED CROSS) that year made $651,957.


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgkDOa0WUXxkvnkku4mzvLd1Mu3g

[Aeroneous]

I, like many of the other vets quoted, could add to the Red Cross stories, but that would be redundant. The only thing those rat bastards will get from me, or almost any other vet is a hard time.

Can't say enough good things about the Salvation Army. They use the resources they have, to help people who need it. Same with the USO, if you really want to "support the troops".

I find it interesting that so many vets are negative toward the Red Cross. When I was Active Duty, several of my Airmen received quite a lot of help from the Red Cross during family emergencies. Surprisingly, they were pretty efficient.

[Brian4Liberty]

And I would expect for those people to have the mental capacity to be able to prepare 3 days of food and water when they have a prior warning that a natural disaster will occur in that region.
...

As someone stated in another thread, the EBT card usually runs out before the end of the month. And most of these people do not have the mental capacity to plan ahead, thus the reason for their dependence in the first place.

[AGRP]

Look's like RPF had a nice thread from 2008 on the RED CROSS... "RED CROSS Strapped For Cash"

Good work to all the posters in that thread!

Katrina disaster the RED CROSS had to borrow $400 Million, but paid it off quickly when they received over $2 BILLION in donations.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?143404-Red-Cross-strapped-for-cash!&highlight=RED+CROSS

Love this one:


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jgkDOa0WUXxkvnkku4mzvLd1Mu3g

Its all a scam. Red Cross workers shouldnt be getting a penny. The experience is valuable enough and I have enough life experience to know that there are a ton of people who will do their part for no cost. Costs should only be spent on food, supplies, rent, vehicles, etc...

[Pericles]

I find it interesting that so many vets are negative toward the Red Cross. When I was Active Duty, several of my Airmen received quite a lot of help from the Red Cross during family emergencies. Surprisingly, they were pretty efficient.

As a unit commander, any time the Red Cross did provide a service to one of my troops, I would then get the bitch from the Red Cross about how much money that cost to provide the service (like emergency messages to a deployed SGT with a dad dying of cancer, and I wanted to give him emergency leave to get back to the US before his dad died, and he was short on accumulated leave, so there deeded to be some timing, so he did not get in a situation where he went over account on leave and did not get paid, etc.) and the Red Cross was a pain in the ass the whole way.

And other such stories .... as I look back at my previous post, I see that I called the Red Cross rat bastards, and I want to take this opportunity to correct what may have created the wrong impression. The Red Cross is a bunch of sorry ass rat bastards of questionable progeny and dubious ancestry.

[jcannon98188]

I am biased, as a Mormon, but contact your local Mormon church and offer to donate. They will get you in contact with people on the ground over there. I don't know for certain, but I am 99% sure that the donated goods/money will get to where it needs to.

[jcannon98188]

I know a lady who works for Red Cross. She makes a pretty penny sitting at her comfy desk job.


Its all a scam. Red Cross workers shouldnt be getting a penny. The experience is valuable enough and I have enough life experience to know that there are a ton of people who will do their part for no cost. Costs should only be spent on food, supplies, rent, vehicles, etc...

[Nirvikalpa]

Its all a scam. Red Cross workers shouldnt be getting a penny. The experience is valuable enough and I have enough life experience to know that there are a ton of people who will do their part for no cost. Costs should only be spent on food, supplies, rent, vehicles, etc...

98% of the Red Cross are volunteers.

You all would be upset to know I'm working a shelter right now in Union County, NJ - and it's a Red Cross/Salvation Army hybrid shelter - SA is handling food and donations, RC logistics. We're slowly ruining the Salvation Army for you guys.


The Red Cross is a bunch of sorry ass rat bastards of questionable progeny and dubious ancestry.

Thank you, because collectivizing is something Ron Paul supporters support.

There is a lot of "I know someone," "I heard this," "I heard that," "My friend told me,"'s in this thread, but very few "I worked," "I volunteered."

[AGRP]

98% of the Red Cross are volunteers.

You all would be upset to know I'm working a shelter right now in Union County, NJ - and it's a Red Cross/Salvation Army hybrid shelter - SA is handling food and donations, RC logistics. We're slowly ruining the Salvation Army for you guys.



Thank you, because collectivizing is something Ron Paul supporters support.

There is a lot of "I know someone," "I heard this," "I heard that," "My friend told me,"'s in this thread, but very few "I worked," "I volunteered."

You of all people should be upset about what is going on.

[Nirvikalpa]

You of all people should be upset about what is going on.

Me of all people? Explain. I'm proud of the work I personally do, and proud of the other volunteers I have personally worked with. I'm proud I actually step into the field without forming opinions based off of what a couple of "internet warriors" post.

Yah I'm upset that 320 ERV's from all over the nation are driving around and handing out a hot meal and relief supplies, 70 mobile feeding stations within the NY/NJ region. I'm ticked 5,000 volunteers are activated in the SHR database. I'm pissed 60 trailers with supplies ranging from care kits and personal hygiene supplies, baby toys, blankets, cots... are scattered throughout the NJ/NY region. I'm upset that there are 8 kitchens opened up in NY/NJ by the Southern Baptist's, partners of the RC serving, serving hot meals.

Like I said... not wasting my time trying to change anyone's mind. Feel free to search the Joplin, MO (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294536-Medical-help-needed-in-Joplin-MO-hospital-hit-by-tornado-twitter-is-full-of-it) thread for my own individual workings with the Red Cross if you are questioning my character because I am a Red Cross worker.

This is a wonderful organization that not many people know about: http://www.us.tzuchi.org/us/en/index.php. It's a Buddhist disaster services foundation - I worked really closely with their workers in Joplin, MO and they did wonderful, wonderful things.

[Aeroneous]

As a unit commander, any time the Red Cross did provide a service to one of my troops, I would then get the bitch from the Red Cross about how much money that cost to provide the service (like emergency messages to a deployed SGT with a dad dying of cancer, and I wanted to give him emergency leave to get back to the US before his dad died, and he was short on accumulated leave, so there deeded to be some timing, so he did not get in a situation where he went over account on leave and did not get paid, etc.) and the Red Cross was a pain in the ass the whole way.

And other such stories .... as I look back at my previous post, I see that I called the Red Cross rat bastards, and I want to take this opportunity to correct what may have created the wrong impression. The Red Cross is a bunch of sorry ass rat bastards of questionable progeny and dubious ancestry.

Ah, well, I never had to deal with it at a Command level as I was just an NCO. Clearly its one of the many issues in this world where opinions will vary based off of perspective.

[dannno]

Nirvi can you visit my blood donating thread and give us your opinion on others donating, especially during this crisis?

[AGRP]

Me of all people? Explain. I'm proud of the work I personally do, and proud of the other volunteers I have personally worked with. I'm proud I actually step into the field without forming opinions based off of what a couple of "internet warriors" post.

Yah I'm upset that 320 ERV's from all over the nation are driving around and handing out a hot meal and relief supplies, 70 mobile feeding stations within the NY/NJ region. I'm ticked 5,000 volunteers are activated in the SHR database. I'm pissed 60 trailers with supplies ranging from care kits and personal hygiene supplies, baby toys, blankets, cots... are scattered throughout the NJ/NY region. I'm upset that there are 8 kitchens opened up in NY/NJ by the Southern Baptist's, partners of the RC serving, serving hot meals.

Like I said... not wasting my time trying to change anyone's mind. Feel free to search the Joplin, MO (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?294536-Medical-help-needed-in-Joplin-MO-hospital-hit-by-tornado-twitter-is-full-of-it) thread for my own individual workings with the Red Cross if you are questioning my character because I am a Red Cross worker.

This is a wonderful organization that not many people know about: http://www.us.tzuchi.org/us/en/index.php. It's a Buddhist disaster services foundation - I worked really closely with their workers in Joplin, MO and they did wonderful, wonderful things.

Youre the only one here who is attacking you for your work.

[Nirvikalpa]

Youre the only one here who is attacking you for your work.

You still didn't answer my question, but I think that's because you know it's a full-of-shit statement. Instead of just admitting you were wrong, and didnt know 98% of the workforce of the Red Cross does not get paid a penny, you'll just continue to talk out of your ass.

[donnay]

http://vimeo.com/52640864




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr9594oKZNQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr9594oKZNQ&feature=related


http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681877/filmmaker-casey-neistat-spins-amazing-video-of-hurricane-sandy-into-awareness-relief-for-vic

[Lucille]

The problem with the Red Cross
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/11/12/the-problem-with-the-red-cross/


If you thought the official New York marathon statement about being cancelled was tone-deaf, just wait until you hear this — on video, no less:


Gail McGovern, chief executive officer and president of the Red Cross, told NBC News’ Lisa Myers late last week that the response has been timely and well-organized: “I think that we are near flawless so far in this operation.”

This is chutzpah of the highest order: at least in the first dreadful days after Hurricane Sandy hit, the best adjective to describe the Red Cross was “invisible”, rather than “flawless”. One of the best ways to judge charities is by the way in which they learn from their mistakes and constantly improve; by that standard, the Red Cross is positively ostrich-like in the way that it refuses to admit that there was even a problem at all, let alone that it might have reacted better.

It’s incredibly sad, because the Red Cross is the default charity that everybody gives to whenever there’s a tragedy. Even I did so, not that I’m any great fan of the organization: I bought the Sandy benefit print from 20×200, and the proceeds from that are going to the Red Cross. But at least in the early days, and even now, it’s hard to find a Sandy-relief drive which isn’t giving its money to the Red Cross: whether you’re donating money at Chase ATMs, or donating your Starwood points, or whether you’re giving in response to a telethon, the Red Cross always ends up being the beneficiary. And in the case of Sandy, the amount raised is truly enormous: $117 million and counting.

The Red Cross loves to talk about its massive efforts, with what it claims is a group of 5,700 volunteers — but frankly I don’t trust the Red Cross’s numbers, given the many reports where the Red Cross higher-ups have sworn that they’re in a certain location and helping, even as no one who’s actually there has seen any evidence of them.

And in any case, the Red Cross doesn’t seem particularly capable of actually putting those 5,700 volunteers to good use. The real heroes of Sandy have been the much smaller-scale organizations, often built on an ad hoc basis. [...]

The trick is to move fast, to abjure any kind of bureaucracy, and to deliver help where it’s needed most.

The Red Cross can’t do that: it’s simply too big. This passage, from MacNicol’s piece, is key:


On Tuesday, one week after Sandy, some of our group went out in cars, and I and a friend were split onto a larger bus that was carrying a number of different groups. It was the first time I came into contact with volunteers not picked and vetted by Ben. The result was somewhat more chaotic; there was no clear leader and everyone had a different idea where our priorities should lie. To say that organization is the key to any useful relief effort is to say that the sun is key to daytime.

And yet, one of the first things that the Red Cross did after Sandy hit was to say that it was “stretched thin” and put out a call for more volunteers. It’s very hard to tell whether all those extra volunteers actually improved outcomes: after all, each one needs to be supported by the larger Red Cross organization, and all of that support is effort which would ideally be expended on the needy. It’s a bit like adding extra stories to extremely tall skyscrapers: the added support those floors need, in terms of columns and elevator banks and the like, means that they don’t actually end up increasing total square footage at all.

The real problem with the Red Cross was not that it was stretched thin, but rather that it was simply too big, and its people too inexperienced in disaster recovery, to be able to respond nimbly to Sandy. Eventually, after a week or two, it will lumber in to affected areas and take over from the ad-hoc groups who provided desperately-needed aid in the early days. It’s reasonably good at that. But that’s clearly not good enough, and it’s certainly nowhere near flawless.
[...]
The Red Cross, in the event, proved incapable of rising to the occasion. Other large organizations did amazing work: ConEd brought power back, and the MTA brought public transportation back, in much less time than virtually anybody had dared to hope. But those organizations had experienced and dedicated workers who knew exactly what to do and how to do it, rather than a rag-tag band of well-intentioned volunteers worrying about what they were authorized to spend, and a fleet of trucks located in unhelpful places up and down the Eastern seaboard.

In the end, the Red Cross will probably spend much if not most of that $117 million — but not in the immediate aftermath of the storm, when the need was greatest. And more to the point, inputs aren’t outputs. If the money gets wasted in logistical infrastructure, it helps no one.

The truth of the matter is that if you donated money pretty much anywhere, after Sandy hit, that money probably didn’t do a lot of immediate good: at that point, it was too late for money to be turned into first- or second-day response. Ask any of the people who were working on the front lines, whether they’re from Occupy Sandy or MSF or even the Red Cross: money was never the bottleneck, and there was never a point at which anybody felt that if they only had more money, they could do more good. People didn’t need money, they needed gas.
[...]
The trick to being a disaster relief organization is that you need the money and the resources before disaster hits, so that you’re prepared when it happens. The Red Cross should have used its balance sheet to go to work as soon as Sandy arrived, should then spend whatever is necessary for as long as it is necessary, and then should use whatever’s left over from its latest $117 million windfall to be better prepared for the next disaster.

Instead, the Red Cross is promising to spend that whole $117 million down to nothing, leaving it just where it started this time around. Which was clearly inadequate.

And that’s why there are surely better places for you to send your money.

"Whenever something is wrong, something is too big."
--Leopold Kohr

"Small is Beautiful."
--E.F. Schumacher

[muzzled dogg]

wow i didn't know a lot of this

[Demigod]

The problem with the Red Cross
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/11/12/the-problem-with-the-red-cross/



"Whenever something is wrong, something is too big."
--Leopold Kohr

"Small is Beautiful."
--E.F. Schumacher

I really do not understand what they expect from the Red Cross,to go into town on white horses, save everyone and take them over the rainbow.Completely unbelievable.Pray you never run into a real crisis,and yes building towns and houses in flooding/hurricane prone areas out of boards and gypsum is not a natural disaster it is stupidity if you want to defy nature at least go on an all out war like the Dutch and build dams .

[compromise]

I'm sure there are a couple of bad eggs in the Red Cross, but it's a huge organization and that's expected. Most people involved in it and other charities are not fraudsters.
I strongly support charity as an alternative to welfare. Unlike others in this thread, I do not consider PACs to be charities.

[libertygrl]

A perfect example:

Chaos, panic, starvation unleashed in NJ / NY while Bloomberg, Red Cross ignore devastated victims

Friday, November 02, 2012
by Mike Adams (http://www.naturalnews.com/037805_chaos_superstorm_sandy_apocalypse.html), the Health Ranger

The post-superstorm situation continues to deteriorate in the Northeast, with words like "chaos" "panic" and "starvation" now becoming increasingly common. Victims are dumpster diving for food, having gone hungry for several days. Fuel remains in desperately short supply, and tensions are running high throughout the region.

"With patience running thin and tension running high in the fight for fuel after Superstorm Sandy, the scene at area gas stations has been chaotic," reports CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57544181/gasoline-situation-increasingly-dire-in-days-after-sandy/?tag=AverageMixRelated). "The situation got so intense in Queens on Thursday, one man was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing after he tried to cut a line at a gas station and pointed a pistol at another motorist who complained."

Residents are currently waiting in line for six hours to get gasoline, and people are defecating in the hallways of residential buildings, as they have nowhere else to go. That shocking fact is revealing in this YouTube video.

"Police were in place at many spots to keep the peace between furious, frustrated drivers," reports Reuters. "Frustration grew for superstorm Sandy's victims in the U.S. Northeast on Friday, many of whom were left with no power, no gasoline and little information about when their shattered lives might return to normal."

"They forgot about us," said Theresa Connor, 42, describing her Staten Island neighborhood as having been "annihilated."

Mayor Bloomberg uses generators, resources to run a marathon while NY citizens suffer and starve
Mayor Bloomberg has now abandoned Staten Island victims and has decided to redirect large power generators and police forces to a New York marathon being held today. What's emerging now is a political elite that is oblivious to the needs of the People. As Reuters reports:

"I just walked past four huge generators. Those could be put to use for people who need them," said Marjorie Dial, a tourist from Oregon who was shocked to see the generators in Central Park, where the marathon finishes. "What they've discovered on Staten Island should have been the tipping point - the bodies."

"Gas is being rationed in parts of New York and New Jersey. The pumps are running on empty -- and so is patience," reports CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57544181/gasoline-situation-increasingly-dire-in-days-after-sandy/?tag=AverageMixRelated). "That desperation is why there is so much panic buying at the pump." One fuel buyer said, "This is crazy, it's like post-apocalyptic scenarios, you know with this gas. It's as important as food and water to people. It's a dogfight out here."

Keeps getting worse by the day

Con Edison says power won't be restored to most customers until Nov. 10 or 11. Because gas stations need electricity to pump fuel, this means gasoline supplies won't be readily available to residents for another full week.

Over the next week, it's clear that the situation is going to erode even further. We're going to see more people begging for help, more chaos and more tensions rising. The political elite will, of course, continue to ignore the suffering of real victims just like we saw in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

What we're watching here is the failure of FEMA and Big Government to help victims in the aftermath of a devastating storm. What we are witnessing is proof positive of the need for individual preparedness in an era of failed government.

Red Cross shows up with hot chocolate and cookies
Yep, cookies! As if the people there need hydrogenated oils, refined sugar and processed wheat to power through the apocalypse.

The response of the Red Cross is an INSULT to the people of New Jersey and New York. Cookies? Really? No blankets, no fuel, no superfoods, no real nutrition... just processed hot chocolate and cookies. Wow.

How pathetic is that? I guess there's no more reason to give money to the Red Cross. It just goes to buy processed crap that's handed out to bewildered victims who need REAL help!

Meanwhile, victims on Staten Island are saying things like, "I haven't had food in two days."

"We are far from fine, and the fact that the mayor wants to have a marathon this weekend, when we've had people who have lost their lives or house, everything they've worked for their whole lives … I mean, its unbelievable to me," Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis said in a CBS News report. (http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/11/02/staten-islanders-on-sandy-response-weve-been-left-far-behind/)

I can't speak for the other places in NY and NJ, but the Red Cross have been pretty good in my area. Ever since the storm, a truck comes around like the ice cream man, delivering hot meals. We accepted food the first day we were alowed back home. It was a turkey patty with peas, corned beef and a biscuit. They also gave some sugared drinks, water and sun chips. And the volunteers were very nice. (Granted, I wouldn't normally eat this food as it's probably loaded with MSG, Aspartame, etc., but if you're starving would YOU refuse)??? Anyway, that was my experience.

[idiom]

So... The MSM articles are all in agreement that we need to abolish the Red Cross and rely on FEMA instead?