Red Cross Effectiveness Providing Disaster Relief?

[ultrarunner]

In past disasters the Bay Area media has always listed a half dozen organizations accepting donations for disaster relief...

With Harvey the only organization getting coverage is the Red Cross... it is as if the Salvation Army and other faith based organizations no longer exist.

Didn't think anything of it until I read this from a Texas official...

Hurricane Harvey: Texas politicians warn against donating to Red Cross in wake of disaster

 

[RNeumann]

Sounds like fake news. I Googled this council member and took the time to read his Facebook posts back to 8/28/17. He has 3 positive posts about volunteering for the Red Cross or donating to a Red Cross shelter set up at a local church (....I think it is based on the name).

I recently took the time to look at headlines from several major online sources- Yahoo had the most inflammatory. This reaffirms that.

Sorry to be a bit off topic and on a soapbox for sure. But it's not the time for devision. Shame on yahoo! OP thx for the post. It's good to bring this to light- where good things occur!

 

[ultrarunner]

Good point...

My only thought is in my market the only media endorsements hammered by the newscasters for Harvey is the Red Cross...

Thankfully, I have never been in a situation needing assistance... I do know when renters in my city are homeless due to a fire the Red Cross has been there to help...

Relieved to know the Red Cross is effective in providing relief in times of disaster and my donations are going to those in need.

 

[reb]

I know several veterans who are down on the Red Cross. My donations go to the Salvation Army, from what I gather is the most efficient charity in the business.

 

[Bird]

As large as these charities are, there are bound to be both good and bad stories told about any of them. My Dad's best friend was in the SeaBees during WWII. He said they were sometimes ORDERED to go for coffee and donuts being served by the Red Cross and when they left, the sergeant was standing by the door to ensure that EVERYONE made a donation; paper money only. I've only heard rumors years ago that, if the Red Cross helps you, they come back later to see if you aren't able to reimburse them. I have my doubts about that. But for my first 10 years on the Police Department, we were not asked each year whether we wanted to donate to the United Way; we were simply told how much we were "donating" each year. Personally, I, too, have always favored the Salvation Army, but I have a cousin who is a Catholic Priest and he hates the Salvation Army, because in his opinion, it's an anti-Catholic organization. But this time around, after the hurricane, I donated to the Red Cross. Will all my money be spent the way I would want it to be spent? I don't know, but I'm sure at least some of it will be used to help those in need. And I'd say the same thing about the other charities. Just pick your own favorite and help when you can.

 

[Streetcar]

I was involved with a flood in Ohio. Red Cross handed out supplies bought with FEMA money. They also hung Red Cross banners at volunteer sites. No Red Cross personnel actually helping. They were very good at claiming responsibility for others work. Lots of red tape doing anything with Red Cross for FEMA money. I quit donating to them after this experience. Salvation Army helped without preaching.

 

[/pine]

I know several veterans who are down on the Red Cross. My donations go to the Salvation Army, from what I gather is the most efficient charity in the business.

Ditto...My father was a POW and said they hated the red cross almost as much as they hated the japs...he said any packages they got from the RC were always missing the most coveted items (chocolate, smokes etc...) but they always showed up on the black market shortly after a distribution...The RC claimed it was the japs but the POWs knew better...

 

[PILOON]

RC has a very heavy overhead with many bureaucrats at the top that siphon a large % of the cash off the top.
Every state has a president and chain of command and all those 'names' associated get a stipend of some sort.
I have seen a web site that rates the different agencies and the RC is about the worst.

Also note the RC ONLY wants CASH, none of the goods that in most disasters are direly needed.
That poor wet refugee could care less if the parka or shoes are used only that they fit and are warm!

 

[mddorange]

My father told me how bad the Red Cross was in WWII by selling items that had been donated to them and I saw it first hand while I was in Nam. The government paid for everything that the Red Cross provided, including their salaries, and yet the Red Cross still begged for donations "To provide for the poor service personnel" and got millions more. If you ever had to use the Red Cross to get money to take an Emergency Leave to attend a funeral or for some other emergency, then they directly took it out of your pay until it was all payed back. When I first went in, the Red Cross was selling shaving kits and other items while the Salvation Army was giving them away. Look up about all the money they collection for 9//11 and it took a major lawsuit for anyone to see any of that money. They will never get a penny form me.

 

[CalG]

I gave up on the United Way, the Red Cross, and the Heart Association when I researched their "costs of operation"

Pennies on the dollar? I can do better than that.