Discussion for article #224411
Let’s see what turns up when I Google “alternatives to red cross”.
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My lay-person’s understanding of “trade secret” is: some piece of information that gives a company a competitive advantage.
Since the Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization, I don’t see how they can claim any need for competitive advantage… just the opposite, I would expect that they want the ability to efficiently help people in need to proliferate wildly.
Just exactly who are they competing with and why do they need to keep a trade-secret from them?
This strikes me as disingenuous.
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Ummm…what?
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we do not use funds restricted to Superstorm Sandy to cover those expenses."
so how much in unrestricted funds are they paying for these expenses. it’s still money contributed by donors in good faith … sounds like someone’s got a very lucrative contract.
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“Red Cross: How We Spent Sandy Money Is Trade Secret”
If a 501©(3) organization that launders GOP cash is a “charitable organization”, then the Red Cross might as well schedule an IPO.
I guess after “Citizens United”, it’s all dark money now….
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took the word right out my brain.
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I stopped giving to Red Cross, United Way for not using funds directed specifically to Katrina, Haiti, Indonesian tsunamis, and basically driving around in limos. Then I stopped with Komen Breast cancer and Central Asia Institute (Greg Mortenson, “3 Cups of Tea” schools) for the same reason, and outright fraud with funds.
Let the buyer [charitable donators] beware. Check out your charities before you ‘buy’.
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The funds in my wallet are now a trade secret. Not another dime to the Red Cross.
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This is why I never donate money to the Red Cross.
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Well, United Way was well known as basically a scam…didn’t know Red Cross was.
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The fact that they don’t want people to know how they spend the money indicates the Red Cross is corrupt! I shall consider them as such until proven otherwise.
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I can remember my mother telling me long ago that she would never donate to the Red Cross after she learned that during WWII, they charged the GIs for the goody bags that people had donated money to send their boys overseas.
And then there was the scandal in the 1970s or 80s about the salaries they were paying their top people.
And I seem to remember some controversy about their lack of timely action in response to Hurricane Katrina as well.
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It seems to me that they’re doing their best to do a Komen and wreck their brand as quickly as humanly possible.
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My mother too had stories about how poorly the Red Cross treated people during World War II. When I lived in the DC area and worked with the national and a small chapter on a few special events, I saw that nothing had changed. The big guys received huge salaries, the peons (including the local staff people) a pittance.
I’ve seen the same type of scandal involving redirecting donations over and over again, not just at the national level but also at the local San Diego office, where funds donated for fire relief were redirected for their general overhead. And yes, the local CEO makes over $300K.
I’ve never donated to the Red Cross and never will. The Salvation Army provides many of the same services during the disasters, but they don’t skim money off the top and their staff and volunteers don’t profiteer. Nor do they attempt to proselytize, as many religions do after disasters. There are lots of good local nonprofits who do good work during and after emergencies. They, and especially those doing animal rescue to help affected pets and their families, get my donations. Forget the profiteering Red Cross and their big-name, usually Republican politician, execs.
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the same thing happened after 9/11; no one knew where all the money went; I used to give blood to them but stopped after learning they sell the blood to hospitals for a high price and the donors don’t even get a credit for the blood like some other orgs give;
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One of the many many reasons we quit donating to the Red Cross several years ago. Their refusal to test blood for AIDS back in the 1980s was terrible. Then there was the high salaries for the CEO. And least we forget 9/11 and Katrina scandals.
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That’s one of the reasons I don’t donate to the American Red Cross ever. The last time I did the money was supposed to go to aid Katrina victims. The Red Cross diverted the money for local help in a small Texas city.
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The Red Cross thinks it has competitors?!? WTF?
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Take a look at Doctors Without Borders.
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