General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRemember the scandal about the Red Cross, post Sandy?
I do not donate to them any longer because of this, and the horrible reports about them in Haiti.
Whats more, Red Cross officials at national headquarters in Washington, D.C. compounded the charitys inability to provide relief by diverting assets for public relations purposes, as one internal report puts it. Distribution of relief supplies, the report said, was politically driven.
During Isaac, Red Cross supervisors ordered dozens of trucks usually deployed to deliver aid to be driven around nearly empty instead, just to be seen, one of the drivers, Jim Dunham, recalls.
We were sent way down on the Gulf with nothing to give, Dunham says. The Red Cross relief effort was worse than the storm.
During Sandy, emergency vehicles were taken away from relief work and assigned to serve as backdrops for press conferences, angering disaster responders on the ground.
I did find other programs to donate to using charity screeners like these:
Global Giving, a group that vets local nonprofits and distributes funds to those that actually work.
https://www.globalgiving.org/
Charity Navigator: https://www.charitynavigator.org/
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)While the volunteers for the Red Cross are giving of themselves, I can not say the same for their management over the years. They do have excellent PR representation, at a pretty penny.
These are personal reasons, I believe my family members. I could go back to WWII. More recently, wasn't there a big story when The Red Cross did not want to distribute all the 9/11 contributions? How about the outrageous salary of Elizabeth Dole?
You have given good advise to find any charity before clicking on the link to a donation request.
marybourg
(12,648 posts)when the uncles returned from service in various battlefields, all praising the Salvation Army for being right in the front lines of battle, delivering free needed comforts, and scorning the Red Cross for hanging back well behind the lines, and charging the soldiers for coffee, snacks, books, etc.
I know some people object to the Salvation Army on religious and idealogical grounds, and I respect that, but the gratitude my (Jewish) family feels for the service they provided and the respect they deserve for their competence in disaster relief leads me to channel my donation to them.
No matter to whom we choose to give -- give! And give again in a month and in 3 months. And in a year. This is going to affect those people for many years to come.