Red Cross isn't going to get a dime from me after that Concert for Hurricane Relief thing tonight. As I blogged it:

I don't know who he was. He was part of the NBC Concert for Hurricane Relief. He said, "America is set up to help black people as slowly as possible." Then he said, "George Bush hates black people." That is the most outrageous thing I think I've ever heard on television, and that's going some.

Absolutely revolting.

Another reason to not give a penny to the Red Cross, from Powerline:

Dr. David Caskey writes from Louisiana. We can't vouch for what he says; all I know is, he's there and we're not:

A lot is going on down here that is not in the news. First, our esteemed governor and the mayor of NO are both idiots. This is the real reason for problems. Second, the NO police force is second only to the mafia in corruption and much of the looting and theft are coming from them as well as their lassitude in doing their job. Third, all Louisiana communities need clothes of any kind. See if your local Salvation Army will send to the shelters throughout the state and blog to give any clothes to the [Salvation] Army. You notice I did not say the Red Cross, they do not have a sizable presence here and are only fishing for money like after 9/11.

Consider it done.

The Red Cross' behavior after 9/11 has meant that I will never give them any money under any circumstances for the rest of my life.

The Salvation Army has already received my donation.

I donated to another charity. I will never donate to the Red Cross because they forced their then-chairwoman, Dr. Bernadine Healy, out for working too hard to get the ICRC to admit the Israeli-equivalent, Magen David Adom. I can find appropriate charities that don't acquiesce to anti-Semitism.

That comparison between the mafia and the NO police is way out of line. Mafia neighborhoods are very safe, anyone who tries to burgle a house once, will not do it again. And if you pay protection to the mafia, you will be protected.
Salvation Army for me. And Petco, for whatever pets are still alive.

I automatically donate money every month to Mercy Corps because of their 92% efficiency rating (ie only 8% goes for overhead). They're mainly an overseas disaster aid organization but for catastrophes like Katrina they use their resources in the US as well.

And I'm still pissed off at the Red Cross for their stunts after 9/11 too.

The Red Cross is the last resort for me, ie if there's absolutely no one else to receive my contribution. As others, I learned my lesson from 9/11. Tha Salvation Army got my cash donation (clothing on Monday). My local fire station got my food donation for distribution to the 10s of thousands already housed in my state (TX).

I agree. I wouldn't give a dime to the Red Cross after the mismanagment of the 9/11 funds. I opted for www.ob.org. Operation Blessing.

A woman I work with watched our local Red Cross turned down a shipment of bottled water from a local company stating the Red Cross wanted money instead. Probably so they could pay retail.

I hope the company donated to the Salvation Army or at least told their trucks to head to the Gulf Coast anyway. (Btw, they were fronting all the costs to get it there and didn't expect the RC to)

I have been a Red Cross volunteer for a very long time. Even though I live about 2,000 miles from the disaster scene, I interviewed the first arriving displaced family this morning. Even though we are 2,000+ miles away, 18 of my fellow volunteers are on scene in LA, MS, TX and UT. Living in extremely primitive and harsh conditions - as volunteers. Several left BEFORE Katrina struck because the ARC, unlike FEMA, was way better prepared.

The Red Cross does not normally take "in kind" donations of food, clothing for long distance transport because we have zero facilities, people, or places to store these items. People are trying to bring in clothing, food, etc at our local Chapter office (2,000 miles away). We are not equipped to handle, manage or store these goods. As a general policy, the ARC usually (but not always) avoids this approach. We do recommend that such donations go to organizations that are equipped to handle these things, such as St Vincent de Paul.

The money donated to the Red Cross is used - in most disasters - to purchase goods and services in the vicinity of the disaster. The money is used - especially - to give grants directly to those who have lost everything. They in turn can spend it on the items they need (there are restrictions as the money, provided through a Debit card or a check-like entity is specifically marked as no alcohol, no guns, etc). This helps jump start the local economy that is badly damaged in the wake of a disaster.

I TOTALLY agree that the ARC screwed up big time after 9/11. I almost stopped volunteering myself. I gave it time and the organization has changed - big time. You can read all their financial reports online. 91 cents of every dollar contributed goes directly to disaster services. 9 cents is used to run the Red Cross and pay for necessary infrastructure like vehicles and communications. The ARC had large quantities of goods and people pre-staged in advance of this storm. About the only places where the Red Cross is not delivering services right now is where FEMA folks are prohibiting access to outsiders. (I have a very low opinion of FEMA but that is another story.) Red Cross is not a government agency but a non profit organization.

Salvation Army is also a very good organization. Habitat for Humanity is pretty good - and will probably be very active in 6 to 12+ months during the rebuilding phase. I hope that those who are critical will also volunteer with any of these organizations to help make them better.

I am just a volunteer. The above represents my opinion and not necessarily anyone else's including ARC or other volunteers.

I also gave to Mercy Corps rather than go though the legwork necessary to vindicate the Red Cross after 9/11 and the ongoing political shenanigans of the international branch. But they seem to have another problem:

"# Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

# The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city."

http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html

Amazing. The state and local officials won't even let them into New Orleans. Is this a remotely reasonable action, or some kind of cynical political spite? Are other orgs getting in?

There is a serious problem with people in New Orleans refusing to leave. Resolving that problem is going to take some actions that will appear to be cruel to the first glance. By providing the appearance of support for those staying in the city, relief efforts would only encourage more people to resist evacuation. But calling it "political spite" is really not appropriate.

The Red Cross is kind of a tricky animal. A lot of it depends on your local chapter. As an illustration:

Several years ago (5 or 6, maybe?), there were fires in a neighborhood in San Diego county. When the residents of that county went to the Red Cross for help, they got nothing, and were told to go elsewhere, to other agencies. Then the Red Cross used photos of some of these people and the burned wreckage of their houses in an ad campaign to solicit money. Obviously, when those people saw those ads, it really hit the fan, and it was a big scandal for the San Diego Red Cross chapter.

Fast forward to the massive SoCal wildfires of 1-2 years ago. I can't speak for what the San Diego chapter did, but from everything I've heard and seen, the San Bernardino chapter was amazing. People were being evacuated and housed in schools and the old air force base and so forth. According to a colleague who was working for the county, the Red Cross was amazing. They were there, on the ground, and were absolutely amazing at organizing and coordinating anything. Then, after about 3 days, FEMA showed up, took over, and made a mess of everything.

Other than the eerie bit about FEMA sucking, the story illustrates the odd issue with the Red Cross: it's a huge organization, but with local chapters. If your local Red Cross chapter is good, then it seems like a good organization. If they suck, then you're screwed.

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