Red Cross -- As Charitable As We Think?
 

My sister drove 3 hours from her temporary home -- a ramshackle, 240 year-old plantation house -- to the Red Cross branch office in Alexandria, LA. She was denied assistance because she had to go to the main office -- branch offices were not processing applications for aid. Funny how there's a huge blurb in the center of the Red Cross regional office website all about how many people they are helping and how great they are. Read it and laugh here. So all of the displaced people in Lousiana and wherever the heck else they escaped to have to somehow get back to the main office and stand in line for hours upon hours to get assistance. My sister also tried the "toll-free" number to register for assistance by phone -- she paid for 30 minutes of being on hold on her cell phone. Her house in the middle of the bayou won't be able to get telephone lines run until January, the phone company said, and I'm sure alot of other people don't have access to telephones. So will all the evacuees be flocking to pay phones around the region and camping out in their sleeping bags, just waiting for someone at the Red Cross to answer their call? All the money they've been given by people around the country, and they can't take aid applications at the Central Louisiana Chapter of the Red Cross? All that money and people willing to volunteer, and they can't get enough people to handle the call volume from victims needing help? Red Cross, Schmed Cross. Don't mess with my family. :realmad:

So sad. The govenment at all levels has failed us/them in a miserable big time. There should be a national outcry to NEVER have this happen again.

thats right.. and this is what happens when people vote a person into office who cuts major funding to Gov. relief projects like Fema by 40 %,implaces a new guy to run fema who was fired from a horse show, sends more than half of our national guard over seas instead of leaving them hime ot protect us, and sends our national debt into a tailspin.

i'll leave it at that :D

Baben,
Anyone who has ever been in the service and fallen on hard time or a family crisis can tell you all kinds of horror stories about the Red cross and how unhelpful they can be at times, while they stand there with their hand out looking for money.

FEMA= Feeble Effort to Move Ass :bshake:

The Salvation Army always seems to be more hands on in the trenches.

Eben, Everything getting turned into a Bush bashing is getting old. I guess you could prove that it would have been better if Kerry were in office now. :yawn: I know, If Kerry were in office , Katrina would have been too afraid to make landfall :rotf3: Let us not forget that states have to ask for government assistance. I blame the governor and mayor.

:kewl:

It's not so much that it's hard to get a handout, which is nice of them to be giving to whoever can manage to jump thru all the hoops to get it, it's that they're being touted as the best charity ever in the media and by their own selves, which I tend to disagree with. Be humble and helpful, like the Salvation Army. The Red Cross seems to be coming across as saviors to people who don't know better, and they're getting all this money thrown at them from different directions. I just hope it gets out to all the survivors in a quick, efficient, and fair manner.

fear not
 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
i heard today (bass babe) that we will be spending an additional 15 million dollars of our noble taxpayers money to have a crackerjack team of accountants traveling to the south to make sure personally that everything
is on the up and up and a thorough accounting is taken for all donations.

Unfortunately there are bunches of fake websites that are (phishing for those dollars) by setting up fake red cross websites that RESEMBLE the official red cross website and when you click on the icon you get re-directed to a fake site that pilfers your money and info. The Government has a task force busting these people as fast as they can but just like in the september 11th scenario a certain portion of those donations will be ripped off by the scumbags. they can only investigate so many at a time.

hey correct me if i am wrong but he just claimed personal responsibillity for all the failures. That makes everything i just said 100% correct. :hihi:

I'm sure that some people think that the flyers (for the charity we set up for my sister) our family put up around town, at our work, at supermarkets, etc. are fake, and it's a shame that people need to be paranoid about that. But we have gotten donations from people we don't know, offers of free places to stay up here for them, and one of the members here -- TBurg -- sent boxes of items down to help my sister and her family out. Despite the few bad apples with fake charities, I've really seen how genuinely good and selfless alot of people can be when faced with victims who need their help. It's been quite surprising, as I've never had too much faith in the kindness of others. I guess it just goes to show that when the chips are down, people are willing to help out, and that's really good to know. I'm glad there hasn't been too much of a focus on scams. Everyone, whether down south or up here, should be thinking positively.

As a leader should. Notice I didn't say good. I still have mixed feelings about his presidency. He is still the president though and deserves that respect. Enough said.

i agree with that
 

Bass Babe...but when you consider the fact that 90% of all American companies have been hacked...although no one in their I.T. departments is allowed to make it public knowledge without being fired...and identity theft
is running rampant and is OUT OF CONTROL you have to be very careful
these days. There are many good Americans out there....i was watching a TV segment yesterday about to young boys (brothers) that raised 1006 dollars for the hurricane Katrina relief fund... selling lemonade.and was very impressed .

Best way to contribute is call your local Salvation Army local office and donate over the phone or send check. They will also confirm an online donaton with an e mail receipt showing the local office sent to, with a tel # and what you designated the check to go for.

BTW the Redcross isn't a gov. organization.Don't blame the government for the Redcross' shortcomings.FEMA's another story....

Food for thought:Imagine how horrible things would be if these organizations didn't exist at all.

My girlfriend's sister and family were able to get assistance their 1st day back in Slidell.Plus they themselves had made prior preperations before evacuating.They were very lucky all they have to deal with is replacing roof shingles and removing about a half dozen trees.Most of their neighbors homes didn't make it.Granted they aren't poor so they were able to buy a generator and they stored their fridge so that it could be usable afterwards.And they are also helping their neighbors because they can.

For a lot longer than most will admit the majority of society tends to live under the assumption that everything will taken care of for them by the government.A good majority of the people have become dependant on the government for assistance.Before anybody else can help people need to learn to help themselves and each other and stop relying completely on the government.