A Look At How Red Cross Spent Money Donated For Hurricane Harvey Victim

[Purveyor]

By Mario Diaz
Posted: 6:47 PM, October 20, 2017
Updated: 6:49 PM, October 20, 2017

HOUSTON - Nearly one month after Channel 2 Investigates received an emphatic “Yes” from Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern, Channel 2 circled back with the organization regarding much money has been spent including asking for specific breakdowns.

The Red Cross tells Channel 2 Investigates they estimate they will spend $42.3 million on food, shelter and relief items for Harvey Victims.

They were unable to provide specific costs for meals attributing it variables such as what they received in donations as opposed to what they purchased. They also were unable to provide costs for blankets citing that they could have been purchased at various price points in the past.

The Red Cross admits to raising more than $350 million dollars in Harvey donations. Channel 2 Investigates specifically asked how much has been spent in Houston? A spokeswoman says they do not break down their figures city-by-city.

What we were able to identify through Red Cross financials is that they are holding onto $106 million, which is 30 percent, for long term recovery programs.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/a-look-at-how-red-cross-spent-money-donated-for-hurricane-harvey-victims

Oh look, we really don't know where the money is being used except for a few crumbs the ARC decided to share.

Holding on to $106 million that people donated thinking it would be used to help those in dire straights?

I give not one red cent to the American Red Cross as this is their SOP. I find a local relief org where I know that my donations are being used to help those in need.

Your money isn't necessarily going to those that you think you are helping. Disgusting, indeed.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Frauds

[Not Ruth]

2. Red Cross is a bunch of criminals

[Kittycow]

3. That's why I stopped giving after I found that out.

[iluvtennis]

22. Same here.

[madokie]

4. we only give to local charities

[mercuryblues]

5. the Clinton family foundation

has to report how many pieces of toilet paper and the price per piece Hillary uses when in the offices. The Red Cross doesn't even keep track of what it spends. Let alone where? Someone's Swiss
bank account went up.

[ileus]

6. I only donate blood...hopefully they don't screw that up.

-O also....


St Judes and our Church are the only other charities.

[shraby]

7. I don't give to them because of what they did in WWII. My dad told me about it.

They brought coffee and doughnuts to the men on the front lines then charged them for it.

Un-forgive-able!!!

[Purveyor]

13. My dad said the same when coming back from the 'Battle of the Bulge'. The only thing he would

mention of that experience.

He did say, and always contributed to the Salvation Army, that they never charges a penny.

Yes, and spare me of all the faults of the Salvation Army. I know them well and during those times, no one gave a shit...

[Frustratedlady]

15. My brother said the same thing...stale donuts on top of being charged for them.

[burrowowl]

55. My Gramps, WWI

was very negative about the Red Cross!

[doc03]

8. My dad a WWII veteran hated the Red Cross. He said they would do a photo op

handing out coffee and cigarettes on the front lines somewhere. But they would sell them to the other 99%.
It wasn't just my dad I have heard lots of other veterans that made the same complaint.

[shraby]

10. Yup, this isn't their first rodeo. It's their m.o.

[doc03]

12. We donate blood for free, what does the Red Cross charge the hospital for it I wonder?

[BarbD]

27. My uncle said the same thing.

He made my mother promise that we would never give to the Red Cross.

[Igel]

9. "Long term" means "for the next disaster."

So something happens that's not heartwrenching or sexy. Oops. ARC has no money and nobody wants to cough it up.

Or it's something where money is needed now. Oops, the reserve tank's empty. It'll take a few days before there's any money available.

ARC probably had cash on hand to start paying out and helping Harvey folk on day 1. Oh, wait, there's video footage of them in place handing out stuff before $1 could be raised for Harvey relief, so it's not "probably." And it is their SOP because it's proven helpful to a lot of victims, people who need help.

Somebody probably donated that money for another cause and it was used on (make sound of disgust) on Harvey victims. So, no, the money isn't going to those you think you're helping. But the lion's share of it still goes to people who need help.

See any big concerts for fire victims in California? Lots of other smaller local, disasters get the ARC out, but there aren't any national fundraisers. The ARC runs CPR and other classes at my high school for students and faculty, and they're free, but on rare occasion saves lives. At my school a student who had the CPR training a few weeks before saw a person collapse and checked him out--and administered CPR. The paramedics said he'd be dead if not for the student. So the ARC helped that parent indirectly.

And the ARC runs around in the background doing a lot of other things. They have blood drives where my kid's youth group meet, and if they get 2 people there in 4 hours it's a lot--they lose money on that, but it's still some blood for victims. (In other blood collection sites they make money. But still, they do the penny-ante blood drives, too.) And very few people donate to the ARC saying, "Please, I want my money to go for the bookkeepers and the other people in my town that are there, maintaining organization and warehouse space with emergency supplies in it just in case."

Most of the rest is lack of social capital. I like how one guy on the radio put it. What are the odds that all the people you happen to know are fairly decent people, when the vast majority of the population are corrupt, swindling low-lifes? They just mostly all happen to be in one place, and you just happen to be one of them and know them ... That's wildly improbable, statistically speaking. And yet that's the assumption most people make.

[Purveyor]

16. Then they should state that up front. "Oh BTW, 30 cents on every dollar you donate will

be held in reserve for whatever we see fit"...

Needs to be legislation to stop this "bait and switch", IMHO..

[Susan Calvin]

24. Exactly. nt

[Sailor65x1]

54. Bait and switch?

So you have a problem with us caring for families burned out of their houses on a weekly basis? Because that's one of the things that money is "Held in reserve" for. There are countless happenings all over the place that you don't see or read about that the RC shows up for.

And "Whatever we see fit" is actually appropriate. Too many idiots think that donating money suddenly means they know best how it should be used.

Considering that the RC cross runs almost entirely on donated money and labor, I'd say we're doing pretty well.

[OhioBlue]

30. Actually long-term recovery would still be for Harvey victims

The Red Cross assistance goes through phases. The emergency response helps with food, shelter, storage of belongings, repairs, etc. then they transition to a long-term recovery phase to help the communities for months after the initial few months of emergency assistance.

But yes to the points you made. Donations drives are popular when its a big disaster that the networks and cable news cover in-depth. The fires, various tornadoes or localized flooding doesn't get the coverage.

[DK504]

11. They were exposed during Katrina.

People gave specifically for Katrina victims, 75% of the donations somehow never made it to them. They had absolutely zero explanation for the fraud they committed and continue to commit. During disasters like this I give to specific churches or charities I know the victims will receive the items they need.

So where is the Red Cross for USVI and PR?

[Sailor65x1]

52. There were almost 700 of us there

Where were you?

Thought so.

[doc03]

14. I may be mistaken but wasn't it McTurtle's wife that was raking

in millions running the Red Cross a few years ago.

[Purveyor]

17. I do remember that Bob Dole's wife, Elizabeth was leader of the org at one time... Nt

[doc03]

25. Oh Ok I remember now. I knew it was one of the Republicans. nt

[spiderpig]

32. I remember Liddy Dole's annual salary:

$250,000. And this was 20-30 years ago.

[mythology]

26. Elaine Chao has never run the Red Cross

Also given that the CEO of the Red Cross makes $500k a year, it's not a relative windfall for somebody at that level.

This is part of the problem. People hear something, or think they hear something, take it for the truth and never bother to verify. It took about 2 minute to do a search on Elaine Chao, search the wikipedia page and realize, nope she never ran it.

[doc03]

28. I said I wasn't sure but it was Bob Dole's wife that was CEO of the Red Cross at one time.

There have been so many people that have made themselves rich off of different charities
and religious organizations it's hard to keep track of the them. I don't think Mrs. Dole was one of them though.

[pangaia]

18. A spokeswoman says they do not break down their figures city-by-city.

Wanna bet, sister?

[blueinredohio]

19. I don't give to any big charities except St. Judges. I give to local ones

[Honeycombe8]

20. I gave to the Cajun Navy. Ordinary guys from Louisiana who went into Houston....

with their pickup trucks and boats, to help rescue. Just ordinary workin' guys. The group coordinates with the local govt and collects donations only for a particular mission.

[zentrum]

21. Stopped giving to Red Cross

...years ago. It's mostly used by socialites to burnish their resumes.

[spiderpig]

33. And do not get me started on the United Way scam

Corporate managers from top to bottom pressured their employees to contribute so they could make their quotas. And they went so far as to send employees a notification saying "Based on your salary, your fair share is $....."

Haven't heard much from UW since that scandals about the personal excesses of their executives.

[zentrum]

47. I remember in the news several months

.....ago, all these reports of how Trump's resort in Florida was losing money because so many charities had cancelled.

What the heck were any charities doing at such a pricey, tawdry venue to begin with?

[dflprincess]

23. I donated to a Houston area charity that was doing hurricane relief

I figured they'd be there long after the Red Cross when home.

[mythology]

29. I find the complaint that they are holding onto funds for long term recovery to be laughable

People donate in the short term, but the need isn't just about getting people food and water on day 1. It's a long term process to get people their lives reconstructed. If they spent every dollar on that, they'd have nothing to support the long term efforts. As somebody else said, they also support many other projects that don't get ex-presidents throwing a fundraiser. Also there is a limit to how many bottles of water, how much food, etc is needed. Apparently you want them to buy those things and throw them away in the name of only helping in the short term.

It's frankly silly and short-sighted thinking to complain about this. It shows a lack of understanding of what it takes to help people rebuild.

[Hoyt]

35. Exactly. They offer housing when a small apartment building burns down, open all year,

stock supplies regionally for next disaster, supply blood, provide CPR training, etc.

Image if a charity had to ramp up for a hurricane after it hits.

[Hoyt]

31. You'd think people spreading crud about charging for donuts during WWII would check facts.

There is truth to one of the rumors, however. During WWII the American Red Cross did indeed charge American servicemen stationed abroad for coffee, doughnuts, and lodging. However, they did so because the U.S. Army asked them to, not because they were determined to make a profit off homesick dogfaces.

The request was made in a March 1942 letter from Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to Norman H. Davis, chairman of the American Red Cross. Because American soldiers were fighting as part of the Allied Forces, matters had to be considered on a Force-wide (rather than a solely American) basis. The Red Cross was asked to establish club facilities for U.S. servicemen overseas where Allied troops would be welcome, and because English and Australian soldiers were being charged for the use of such facilities, it was deemed unfair that Americans were to get similar benefits for free (especially in light of the fact that their pay was higher than that of their Allied counterparts). For the good of the alliance, the American Red Cross was persuaded to exact nominal charges from American GIs for off-base food and lodging.

https://www.snopes.com/medical/emergent/redcross.asp

[doodsaq]

34. Busted

[Purveyor]

37. So my dad, rest his soul, was a liar? Is that what you are telling me? All of the first

hand accounts are lies? To what purpose I must ask. Why would my dad make something up such as this?

He rarely talked of his time fighting the bastard Nazis but whenever the red cross was pleading for money many years after he would pipe up and mention his experience.

[Hoyt]

38. Neither your dad or mine had Snopes. Besides, you are the one spreading this junk without

checking facts that are easy to find.

Next time some poor person's apartment is destroyed and the Red Cross jumps in immediately, you tell them the misleading donut story.

[OhioBlue]

39. Nobody said your dad lied. Hoyt gave an explanation

for why the Red Cross charged GIs

[Purveyor]

41. Like hell he didn't. He said "people spreading crud". That would have been my Dad..

My Dad never spread "crud" in his life...

[OhioBlue]

42. take a breath and read his post again.

The post clearly states that your dad's first hand accounts are true. It does offer context however that they charged because they were required to. His post confirms your dad's first hand accounts.

As I read it, his accusation of people "spreading crud" is aimed toward posters in the present and not WWII vets who shared their first hand experiences.

[Hoyt]

43. Honest to God, I was not calling your dad a liar. That's why I said neither of our dads had

Snopes (perspective of what actually happened in WWII regarding this).

I was actually saying that maybe we shouldn't be spreading that stuff now that we do have perspective.

I think the Red Cross does a decent job in a lot of ways. They are not perfect, and not beyond criticism. But who is?

[Mariana]

48. Sounds like they have a long record

of really shitty communication, then. Why let the soldiers walk away feeling they've been gouged? Why not, you know, TELL them why they were being charged for these items? Why let donors think all their contributions will go for a specific need, and then have them feel disillusioned later when they learn the truth? TELL them part of their donations will be saved and used for future situations, and explain that a portion of past donations is being used now. There's no good reason for all this misunderstanding to be going on.

[Hoyt]

49. You'll get it if your house is destroyed, you have nowhere to turn and

Last edited Mon Oct 23, 2017, 09:24 PM - Edit history (1)

the Red Cross shows up-to provide clothing, food and housing.

[Mariana]

50. Which will never happen to the overwhelming majority of potential donors.

They need to explain, clearly, what the hell they intend to do with the money they receive, and why. They need to explain, clearly, why they charge for coffee and doughnuts, when they do so. How many people CAN'T they help now, because they've pissed off so many potential donors by not communicating? There's no good reason for all this misunderstanding going on.

[OhioBlue]

36. the article looks like cherry picking numbers

From the latest Red Cross update on recovery efforts I could find the estimates are:

42 million on food, shelter and emergency recovery for Harvey victims
165 million in direct emergency financial assistance for Harvey victims
2.5 million medical for Harvey victims
108 million earmarked for long-term recovery for Harvey victims - this could mean direct assistance to families whose needs are not met by insurance or federal recovery programs, community assistance with infrastructure, assisting schools, and long-term case management to help people through the paperwork and steps they need to take for insurance or other local and federal programs.

I have no problem with them not knowing what zip code every dollar of assistance goes to. They are emergency relief and they need the freedom to react quickly, allocate, redirect, and reallocate assistance in real time as the situation requires.

I agree with previous poster. The attacks on the Red Cross are short sighted. No local charities have the resources, trained staff and volunteers to respond to large scale disasters like the Red Cross. Additionally, they respond to house fires and smaller disasters.

[Not Ruth]

44. Fuck the Red Cross

[cwydro]

46. Theyre not my favorite charity, but they were on the ground in days after Wilma.

They also helped us out after a fire.

They do good things, and they help a lot of people.

[Vinnie From Indy]

45. Is this thread another bit of Russia's attempt to fracture America?

You be the judge!

[Permanut]

51. Red Cross was the first to respond..

when our house burned to the ground in 1955, during an ice storm just before Christmas. I was ten years old at the time. We stayed over for a while at Grandma's house, but the Red Cross offered shelter, which we didn't need, but also food, clothing and other necessities, which we welcomed.

That was a long time ago, but I still remember their kindness.

[tblue37]

53. The fact that the ARC at one point had Liddy Dole heading it up turned me off the organization

even before I started seeing articles about their questionable practices, so when I donate, I look for trustworthy local organizations.