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donnay
12-04-2014, 08:33 AM
Red Cross exposed as scam in searing investigation published by ProPublica

Wednesday, December 03, 2014
by: J. D. Heyes

A pair of massive, once-in-a-generation storms lambasted regions of the U.S., leaving in their wake destruction, some death and havoc. Hundreds of thousands of people were without food, shelter and power, many for weeks on end.

But Americans responded like they always do after such disasters, whether they occur on home soil or abroad: They opened up their pocketbooks and donated to charities ostensibly aimed at helping victims.

In particular, according to a recent investigative report by ProPublica and National Public Radio, Americans sent the Red Cross hundreds of millions of dollars because they believed that their donations would be well used to relieve the suffering of victims pounded by Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Isaac.

It didn't happen. Per the report:

The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation.... The charity's shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists.

"Multiple systems failed"

In addition, the investigation found that Red Cross officials in the nation's capital deepened the charity's incoherent response by "diverting assets for public relations purposes," according to this internal Red Cross report. Furthermore, the distribution of relief supplies was "politically driven."

Red Cross supervisors during Isaac directed dozens of trucks that are most commonly used to deliver aid to be driven around mostly empty, "just to be seen," according to one of the drivers, Jim Dunham.

"We were sent way down on the Gulf with nothing to give," Dunham told investigative reporters. In many ways, he added, the Red Cross's relief effort was "worse than the storm."

During Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast, emergency vehicles were diverted from relief work to be used as props for press conferences, which angered disaster response personnel who were attempting to mitigate the storm's damaging effects.

Following both storms, the investigative report continued, problems inherent in the Red Cross left a number of victims in dangerous circumstances in which they were vulnerable to harm, as the charity's internal assessments even stated. For example, victims who were handicapped "slept in their wheelchairs for days," because Red Cross officials had failed to secure adequate numbers of cots.

Also, in one shelter, sex offenders were "all over including playing in [a] children's area," because Red Cross workers "didn't know/follow procedures."

The investigative report further states:

According to interviews and documents, the Red Cross lacked basic supplies like food, blankets and batteries to distribute to victims in the days just after the storms. Sometimes, even when supplies were plentiful, they went to waste. In one case, the Red Cross had to throw out tens of thousands of meals because it couldn't find the people who needed them.

Hardly "near flawless"

As it usually does, the Red Cross managed to assemble a small army of volunteers for the disasters. But, as the investigative report found, many of them were ill-used or misdirected by management personnel. Following Sandy, for instance, volunteers meandered through the streets of New York in search of neighborhoods that had been hit but lost their way because they had not been given GPS equipment to guide them.

And as he so often does, President Obama -- the Red Cross's honorary chairman -- came out on the wrong side of an issue; he publicly endorsed the charity following Superstorm Sandy, assuring the American people that the "Red Cross knows what they're doing."

Moreover, two weeks after Sandy, the charity's chief executive, Gail McGovern, said the group's relief efforts had been "near flawless."

But self-assessments were far less congratulatory.

"Multiple systems failed," say the minutes of a closed-door meeting of top Red Cross officials in December 2012, in reference to operational logistics.

"We didn't have the kind of sophistication needed for this size job," noted a Red Cross vice president in the same meeting, according to the minutes. See them here: Propublica.org.

Sources:

http://www.npr.org

http://www.propublica.org

http://www.propublica.org

http://www.naturalnews.com/047863_Red_Cross_charities_Superstorm_Sandy.html#i xzz3KwJNDMZS

euphemia
12-04-2014, 08:45 AM
Cities and states should be prepared to handle these things on their own by helping each other. In 2010 Tennessee was hit with massive flooding. It was a huge mess. Nobody noticed until we got on social media and message boards to share pictures and stories. We walked out the door on Tuesday morning, looked around, and said, "Wow. We have a mess on our hands." Then we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. There are still signs here and there that there was a dramatic incident, but everyone is back in their homes and businesses are up and running. I know you couldn't buy gloves or bleach for a long time after, but we quietly went about the business of getting our city back together.

We got about 15 minutes, but nobody is talking about the miraculous recovery of our city, or using what we did as any kind of example.

We are fortunate to live on a hill, but many families were displaced for a long time. They did most of the work themselves. Most of the immediate work was done by private citizens until first responders could be put in place. I know one shelter was fully staffed by employees of a local hotel who themselves had nowhere else to go. They just set up shop in a high school gym and did what they could to make other people comfortable, cooking meals and providing blankets and pillows.

The Red Cross is really marginalizing itself in its ineffectiveness. They have a large campus here, are only on top of things when it happens to someone else, or when they can get news coverage.

donnay
12-04-2014, 09:06 AM
After the Oklahoma City Bombing and reading stories of the Red Cross taking money intended for the victim's family, I never donated to the American Red Cross again.

My grandfather told me, during WWII the Red Cross would charge the soldiers for doughnuts and coffee that were originally donated to give to the soldiers overseas.

Here's a Flashback:

Red Cross defends handling of Sept. 11 donations

November 6, 2001 Posted: 9:39 PM EST (0239 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Charities swung into action after the September 11 terrorist attacks, raising more than $1 billion. But questions are being raised about where and how and how much of that money is being distributed.

Bearing the brunt Tuesday during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel was outgoing Red Cross President Dr. Bernadine Healy.

The Red Cross has raised more than $564 million for the Liberty Fund, which was set up in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

While the agency states on its Web site that it is spending more than any other relief agency responding to the terrorist attacks, it has distributed only $154 million.

Healy was hammered by one New York official for the Red Cross' decision to put aside nearly half of the money raised for future needs that may include terrorist attacks.

"I see the Red Cross, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars that was intended by the donating public to be used for the victims of September 11 -- I see those funds being sequestered into long-term plans for an organization," testified New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Healy later told CNN the Red Cross was a service organization and that previous donations had prepared the agency to deal with September 11.

"We had planned for a weapon of mass destruction attack," she said. "We knew our obligations under the congressional charter. We knew it involved victim assistance and sheltering. We knew that it involved with dealing with rescue workers. We knew that it involved blood."

She also noted that some of the new funding went toward helping communities learn how to deal with other threats such as anthrax.

The hearing was contentious, with panel members trying to get at the issue of donor intent and whether the Red Cross misled donors.

"What's at issue here is that a special fund was established for these families. It was specially funded for this event, September 11," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Louisiana.

"And it is being closed now because we are told enough money's been raised in it, but we're also being told, by the way, we're going to give two-thirds of it away to other Red Cross needs."

The subcommittee asked Healy and her agency to provide the exact language of all of its television and newspaper appeals for donations.

Healy said what the agency has learned is it needs to explain to the public the mission of the Red Cross.

"Don't confuse us with the 9/11 Fund in New York. Don't confuse us with Habitat for Humanity. Don't confuse us with the scholarship in New York for the victims. We have to get that out," she said.

Controversy over the Liberty Fund was one reason Healy decided to resign at year's end. But she defended the agency's decision of how to use the money.

"The Liberty Fund is a war fund. It has evolved into a war fund," she said."We must have blood readiness. We must have the ability to help our troops if we go into a ground war. We must have the ability to help the victims of tomorrow."

Elizabeth McLaughlin Elizabeth McLaughlin says keeping up with red tape required an 18-page spreadsheet.

A widow who lost her husband in the World Trade Center attack also complained to the panel that what money was available from various charities was tied up in red tape and confusion.

"Why then haven't these charities been able to get together and agree on one uniform application? Why haven't they been able to get together and develop a quicker way for families to receive these funds?" asked Elizabeth McLaughlin of Pelham, New York.

"We all have the missing persons reports, death certificates, and any other proof needed to avoid fraud. But the charities are not sharing these documents and information with each other," she testified in tears.

She told the panel that she had to construct an 18-page spreadsheet to try to keep track of all the requirements of various aid groups.

McLaughlin received a $27,000 check from the Red Cross but fears she may still lose her house without additional aid.

The Red Cross said it has helped 25,000 families with food and temporary shelter, counseling and cash assistance.

phill4paul
12-04-2014, 10:02 AM
Granted a charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. All I need to know about them. No, not one thin dime.

Ender
12-04-2014, 10:37 AM
Granted a charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. All I need to know about them. No, not one thin dime.

The only charities for these kinds of incidences that I will donate to are the Salvation Army and the Mormon Church. The LDS are usually among all the first responders in any disaster but are never given the PR.

Ronin Truth
12-04-2014, 10:39 AM
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=red+cross+scams

William Tell
12-04-2014, 10:40 AM
Kind of like the NRA.

Pericles
12-04-2014, 03:48 PM
It was ever thus. The two organizations that help GIs are the USO and Salvation Army.

Dr.3D
12-04-2014, 03:55 PM
I noticed the Red Cross has been going down hill a bit. They used to welcome the amateur radio community with open arms and now we've been kicked out of our local facility because they claimed we might cause problems with their blood supply or something along those lines.

Brian4Liberty
12-04-2014, 04:56 PM
Big corrupt charity. Socialism doesn't work well, even if it's voluntary.

The first question for all charities, what percentage actually goes to the cause vs. goes to overhead?