Red Cross or Red Crooks

[Firediver]

Can anyone confirm that of the over 500 million bucks that was donated to the Red Cross for the 9-11 fund, only about 1/2 will go to the intended recipients of the WTC/Pentagon tradedies. I was under the impression that when we donated to the red cross for 9-11, that is where the money was going too. Now the story is that they are using 1/2 of the 9-11 fund to cover their expenses, ie., salaries, other funds, etc.
Can this be true? When I donated, I wanted all of my money to go to the 9-11 victims, not there presidents salary, which I was told is $300,000 (this has not been researched, I could be wrong). Stop the Madness.

[comwhite]

I hadn't heard anything about that, however, I did hear on the news last night that Red Cross had asked for no more donations. They had collected over 5 million, and didn't know how to spend it all. Duh! How about sending some of it to the Fire Departments across the Nation for terrorist training. I can't believe that 3000 lives were lost and still more with the Anthrax threat, and they *don't* know how to spend it. I wonder if I could volunteer tohelp them with thier dilemna.

[SilverCity4]

I heard over $500 million on Fox last night, but the Red Cross web site says it's more like $300 million.

Go to redcross.org. As soon as I got there, a window popped up with a breakdown of where the money is going.

It's not all direct relief to the attacks from 9-11. It looks to me like the Red Cross is using some of the money to expand current programs rather than give direct assistance to those affected.

If I give money to any organization earmarked for a specific cause or function, I expect it to be spent for that purpose. If I wanted to help the Red Cross expand their blood bank, I would earmark my donation for that. Or, if I didn't care, I'd make my check out to "Red Cross" and let them figure it out.

[Lewiston2FF]

Made a decision a while before 9-11 that the Red Cross wasn't going to get any of my donations. When the time came to send donations for the 9-11 tragedy I made sure that the money was going where I wanted it to. Send your money to :
Widows & Children's Fund C/O
Uniformed Firefighter's Association
204 East 23rd Street, NY, NY 10010

I figure this way even if they need to take some administrative fees out it will be a much smaller portion of my donation than the Red Cross.

[HAZ1MAT]

As soon as the tragedy happened- I knew that if I donated to the Red Cross it would not necessarily go in direct aid to the victims. I still gave em money a few days later.
My German friend who is a firefighter was vexed when he could not donate directly to the firefighters fund- but after time that was fixed and international donations could be accepted. We tried to find a fund that would benifit every person lost- not just a specific group.
Then I opened the NY daily news and saw a friend/cop I knew smiling back at me from a list of the missing. Father of three. So I stopped looking for the fund and just gave his widow cash in an envelope.
No tax deduction- but who the heck cares.
We all gotta try to help the families left behind.
Bernadette

[hctrouble25]

The lady in charge of the Red Cross has resigned...what does this tell you? Well that we were robbed. Some of the money that went elsewhere went to programs that help other countries...hello?! America has just suffered a huge loss of life, one of the worst tragedies in our history, and the Red Cross sent some of the money we as firefighters donated to them to go directly to the victims families overseas to another country!!!!!!!!???????? I am fuming! I worked for a non-profit organization for several years and so I do understand that some money has to go back into paying salaries, admin costs, etc. But when we told someone their $50 donation was going towards buying turkeys for the Thanksgiving Holiday for less fortunate families in the area, that is where the money went to. I know because I was in charge of the entire office. I think the Red Cross owes a lot of money to the victims families and an apology to all those that donated with the idea that this money would go to those families. This is not acceptable to me at all.

[DFDRev]

the Red Cross only helps when the media is covering the event anyway...

[vsies]

This is TOTALLY unacceptable!! I tried to get onto Red Cross website & couldn't pull up.
Does anyone have their address?
If this atrocity is confirmed, Please Post in forum!
I'm a single Mom & the small amount my son & I could contribute was earmarked SPECIFICALLY for the Victims of the 911 disaster. Wish I would have sent mine diretly to NY myself now!!

[Josie035]

I am the Disaster Action Team Captain for the American Red Cross for a county in Minnesota. I may be able to clear up some of this but not all. To let you all know, I have sent your concerns to the lead chapter in Minnesota who is contacting the National chapter. You will get your answers.

the website for the national site is:
redcross.org
there is a box that will pop up when you go there that gives you detailed specs of where money has been spent.

It is not true that we only respond when the media is covering. I am a single mother..i VOLUNTEER my time..i put as many hours into red cross as i do my "normal" job...i get called in the middle of the night to respond to fires...i am there within 1 hour of the call from dispatch...i take all my vacation time to help in disasters in red cross...there are many volunteers just like me...who are there for people because we truly care...

to think anyone misused funds that was intended to help people would strike anger in anyone, a it very well should!...but i ask of you, before you repeat something, especially as important as this, please make sure the information is correct...

please do not let a misunderstanding add to the pain and suffering...we will get your answers to you...i am doing this because i care...

if you have specific questions, i will do my best to answer them, if i cannot, i WILL get the answers to you...

Josie

[combat_medic]

Is them putting money from your donations into their blood program really that bad? If one of our brothers needed blood after being pulled out of ground-zero then the money that they put into that program would be good.

Just my .02

[Josie035]

to answer the blood question:

when the disaster hit on sept. 11, the red cross asked for people to donate blood..many responded...the red cross, as did many others, anticipated more survivors than there actually was...so we have all the blood people donated that needs to be kept from "going bad"...

part of the money is being spent on making sure we have the equipment necessary to keep the blood in useable and quality condition..that is necessary...

we do not want anyone who gave their time and blood to see it just be "thrown away"...it has to be kept up to quality...so others in need may use it...

Josie

[DFDRev]

Josie - in our area we only get a team if the media is there. And then it is only the Media Relations Rep. who will not do anything for the victims - he will only talk to the cameras.

The Red Cross is a joke here!

[Josie035]

DFDRev:

I am very sorry to hear that your chapter is not up to quality standards!..that angers me in fact...what you can do is first contact your local chapter and tell them of your concerns, then also contact the state lead chapter...we are here to help..and if a chapter is unable to do the job, then we send people in from other chapters that are able..we have many very small chapters...all run by volunteers...all work has to be done on our "spare time"...we have mutual aid agreements with neighboring chapters that can fill in where we cannot...it is the job of all key personnell and board members to make sure the chapter can handle what it must...you can help by stating your concerns to them like i said...making them look at where they need to work harder...

taking the time to check in with your state lead chapter will only help your community...they need to know where help is not being given...

Josie

[nonameFF]

Originally posted by Vicky:
This is TOTALLY unacceptable!! I tried to get onto Red Cross website & couldn't pull up.
Does anyone have their address?
If this atrocity is confirmed, Please Post in forum!
I'm a single Mom & the small amount my son & I could contribute was earmarked SPECIFICALLY for the Victims of the 911 disaster. Wish I would have sent mine diretly to NY myself now!!

If you wrote on the check that it was for the victims, they must do as you say. If you just gave to the "Liberty Fund" believing it would get there, you are out of luck.

[Josie035]

please know that this is an ongoing response effort...the money has not all been spent...

Right now, about 1/2 of eligible families have not yet filed for assistance from the Family Fund. We are still providing mass care, mental health counseling, and other services on site, as well. There could be client needs from this disaster for years to come.

Josie