Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

The Red Cross’ Secret Disaster

IN 2012, TWO MASSIVE STORMS pounded the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, hungry or without power for days and weeks.

Americans did what they so often do after disasters. They sent hundreds of millions of dollars to the Red Cross, confident their money would ease the suffering left behind by Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Isaac. They believed the charity was up to the job.

They were wrong.

The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. The charity’s shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists.

What’s more, Red Cross officials at national headquarters in Washington, D.C. compounded the charity’s inability to provide relief by “diverting assets for public relations purposes,” as one internal report puts it. Distribution of relief supplies, the report said, was “politically driven.”

During Isaac, Red Cross supervisors ordered dozens of trucks usually deployed to deliver aid to be driven around nearly empty instead, “just to be seen,” one of the drivers, Jim Dunham, recalls. “We were sent way down on the Gulf with nothing to give,” Dunham says. The Red Cross’ relief effort was “worse than the storm.”

During Sandy, emergency vehicles were taken away from relief work and assigned to serve as backdrops for press conferences, angering disaster responders on the ground.

Supervisors ordered dozens of trucks usually deployed to deliver aid to be driven around nearly empty instead, “just to be seen.”

After both storms, the charity’s problems left some victims in dire circumstances or vulnerable to harm, the organization’s internal assessments acknowledge. Handicapped victims “slept in their wheelchairs for days” because the charity had not secured proper cots. In one shelter, sex offenders were “all over including playing in children’s area” because Red Cross staff “didn’t know/follow procedures.”

According to interviews and documents, the Red Cross lacked basic supplies like food, blankets and batteries to distribute to victims in the days just after the storms. Sometimes, even when supplies were plentiful, they went to waste. In one case, the Red Cross had to throw out tens of thousands of meals because it couldn’t find the people who needed them.

The Red Cross marshalled an army of volunteers, but many were misdirected by the charity’s managers. Some were ordered to stay in Tampa long after it became clear that Isaac would bypass the city. After Sandy, volunteers wandered the streets of New York in search of stricken neighborhoods, lost because they had not been given GPS equipment to guide them.

The problems stand in stark contrast to the Red Cross’ standing in the realm of disaster relief. President Obama, who is the charity’s honorary chairman, vouched for the group after Sandy, telling Americans to donate. “The Red Cross knows what they’re doing,” he said.

Two weeks after Sandy hit, Red Cross Chief Executive Gail McGovern declared that the group’s relief efforts had been “near flawless.”

The group’s self-assessments, drawn together just weeks later, were far less congratulatory.

• DOCUMENTS: THE RED CROSS’ FAILURES IN ITS OWN WORDS

• Sandy and Isaac “Lessons Learned” PowerPoint

• Minutes from post-Sandy meeting of Red Cross execs

• Hurricane Isaac emails from Red Cross officials

• Hurricane Sandy letter from Red Cross official

“Multiple systems failed,” say minutes from a closed-door meeting of top officials in December 2012, referring to logistics. “We didn’t have the kind of sophistication needed for this size job,” noted a Red Cross vice president in the same meeting, the minutes say.

Red Cross officials deny the group had made decisions based on public relations. They defend the Red Cross’ performance after Isaac and Sandy.

“While it’s impossible to meet every need in the first chaotic hours and days of a disaster, we are proud that we were able to provide millions of people with hot meals, shelter, relief supplies and financial support during the 2012 hurricanes,” the charity wrote in a statement to ProPublica and NPR.

The Red Cross says it has cultivated a “culture of openness” that welcomes frank self-evaluation and says it has improved its ability to handle urban disasters. One reform, the Red Cross says, moved nearly one-third of its “disaster positions” out of national headquarters and into the field, closer to the victims.

But some Red Cross veterans say they see few signs the organization has made the necessary changes since Sandy and Isaac to respond competently the next time disaster hits. Richard Rieckenberg, who oversaw aspects of the Red Cross’ efforts to provide food, shelter and supplies after the 2012 storms, said the organization’s work was repeatedly undercut by its leadership.

Top Red Cross officials were concerned only “about the appearance of aid, not actually delivering it,” Rieckenberg says. “They were not interested in solving the problem — they were interested in looking good. That was incredibly demoralizing.”

The modern-day Red Cross was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a unique part in responding to disasters. The iconic charity has a government mandate to work alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency in relief efforts.

The Red Cross has endured patches of trouble in the recent past. It faced allegations of financial mismanagement after Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina and a series of chief executives were forced to resign. Congress forced an overhaul. The Red Cross recruited McGovern to the top job in 2008. McGovern had spent her career as an executive at AT&T and Fidelity and was teaching marketing at Harvard Business School. “This is a brand to die for,” she said in an early interview as the Red Cross’ chief executive. Corporate exec Gail McGovern became the Red Cross CEO in 2008. She called the charity “a brand to die for.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Indeed, the Red Cross remains a magnet for wealthy and corporate contributors, drawing more than $1 billion in donations last year, including at least $1 million each from Lady Gaga, Nicolas Cage and the oilman T. Boone Pickens. When McGovern took the reins, she inherited a sprawling operation with hundreds of chapters across the country. The Red Cross has more than 26,000 employees. After a storm, the full-time staff mobilizes volunteers and a smaller corps of disaster relief experts, known as reservists.

While often praised as a stabilizing presence by those outside the Red Cross, McGovern initiated a series of changes inside the organization that roiled the venerable charity. She executed layoffs and reorganizations that closed local chapters and centralized power at national headquarters in Washington. In part, these changes reflected several years of operating in the red. In its most recent year, the Red Cross ran a $70 million budget deficit. “Fundraising fell short of our target in a year without any huge national disasters,” McGovern wrote in a September email to executives.

But McGovern’s moves alienated many longtime volunteers and reservists, current and former Red Cross officials say.

“I believe the reorganizations that have taken place are killing this organization,” says Bob Scheifele, a veteran Red Cross disaster response expert who was on the ground after Isaac and Sandy. The Red Cross began to see the effects of McGovern’s changes in late August 2012, when Hurricane Isaac slammed into the Gulf Coast. The storm lingered over Mississippi and Louisiana, causing major flooding and more than $2 billion in damage. In some low-lying areas, residents had to be rescued from the rooftops of their submerged homes.

The Red Cross mobilized hundreds of volunteers, equipment, emergency vehicles and supplies. But it couldn’t marshal them promptly enough to help many Isaac victims.

When Rieckenberg arrived in Mississippi to help coordinate victim care, he witnessed the incident that so troubled Dunham, the emergency vehicle driver. An official gave the order to send out 80 trucks and emergency response vehicles — normally full of meals or supplies like diapers, bleach and paper towels — entirely empty or carrying a few snacks.

The volunteers “were told to drive around and look like you’re giving disaster relief,” Rieckenberg says. The official was anticipating a visit by Red Cross brass and wanted to impress them with the level of activity, he says.

The disarray and deception in Mississippi made Rieckenberg “furious,” he recalls. Rieckenberg, 62, had spent his career as a nuclear engineer on a Navy sub during the Cold War. He joined the Red Cross after seeing the images of Katrina’s devastation.

He was quickly promoted and became part of a select group of “Mass Care Chiefs.” In Red Cross lingo, “mass care” is the provision of food, shelter and supplies immediately after a disaster. When a serious storm was forecast anywhere in the country, Rieckenberg would get a call at his home outside Santa Fe and jump on a plane. Chiefs often work 18-hour days, setting up makeshift command centers in places like motel hallways, sometimes working without electricity. Jobs usually last a few weeks, beyond which chiefs risk burning out from exhaustion. As a reservist, Rieckenberg was paid small sums for responding to disasters.

Richard Rieckenberg, a former disaster expert with the Red Cross, says the charity cares about the “appearance of aid, not actually delivering it.” (David P Gilkey/NPR)

The problems with the Red Cross’ response to Isaac began even before the storm hit. About 460 mass care volunteer workers — 90 percent of the workers the organization dispatched to provide food and shelter for the storm overall — were stationed in Tampa ahead of landfall, Rieckenberg’s emails from the time say.

The hundreds of volunteers in Tampa weren’t only there for the hurricane: The Republican National Convention was going on there and the Red Cross wanted a large presence, Rieckenberg says. The Red Cross typically deploys about 20 volunteers to such meetings.

The Red Cross left hundreds of volunteers in Tampa, the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, well after it was clear Hurricane Isaac would miss the city. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Emails from the time show Rieckenberg complained that Red Cross officials prevented disaster response leaders from moving volunteers out of Tampa even after forecasts showed that the hurricane wouldn’t hit the city. It was the first time in Rieckenberg’s experience that people in charge of disaster relief didn’t have the final say over where Red Cross volunteers were sent.

The Red Cross disputes the notion that the Republican National Convention influenced their deployment, saying it was responding to early forecasts that Tampa might be in Isaac’s path.

“There was nothing political in our decisions regarding Tampa,” the charity says. “We would have made the same decisions if it had been a convention of chiropractors.”

But according to the National Hurricane Center, at least five days before Isaac made landfall it was clear the storm would not hit Tampa.

The charity also insists that “the volunteers and resources we deployed to Florida did not come at the expense of other states.” It did not provide figures for how many mass care volunteers were on the ground in other states before Isaac.

Whatever the reason the Red Cross sent so many volunteers to Tampa, a number of Red Cross officials say there were delays in getting them out. “After how long they were in Tampa, they obviously could not redeploy. They consumed all their available time and went home,” says Bob Scheifele, who served as mass care chief in Louisiana. A former major in the Army, Scheifele was so upset after Isaac that he drafted a resignation letter, though he ultimately decided not to send it.

The overall Red Cross operation after Isaac was beset by problems. Rieckenberg emailed his superior at national headquarters on Sept. 12, 2012, to sound the alarm. “In Mississippi we were unable to open a single shelter with proper staff, materials and food resources prior to landfall,” Rieckenberg wrote. “We had trouble getting food to our kitchens.” The Red Cross’ relief efforts were “marked primarily by internal political wrangling, power struggles and ineffectiveness.”

Disaster expert Richard Rieckenberg met with senior officials in October 2012 to voice his concerns.

“You (as usual) have clearly articulated the core of many of the issues we are facing. From a broad perspective I completely agree with you,” Trevor Riggen, the top Red Cross disaster response official, replied that same day. “This is extremely systemic.”

He also praised Rieckenberg for his service: “You have been an extraordinary asset to the country,” Riggen wrote.

In mid-October 2012, Rieckenberg and Scheifele traveled to Washington to present their experiences to Riggen and two other high-level Red Cross executives.

“We are more enamored with the perception of success rather than success,” Rieckenberg told them, according to his notes. He and Scheifele presented a host of other concerns to the officials. The executives asked Rieckenberg and Scheifele to be patient, promising reforms.

And then, on Oct. 29, 2012, Sandy hit New York.

The superstorm was the worst to hit the northeast in a generation. In addition to President Obama, Mitt Romney and Bruce Springsteen urged people to donate to the Red Cross. The charity ultimately raised $312 million to help Sandy victims. (ProPublica has raised questions about the opacity of Red Cross disclosures on how this money was spent.)

But while its fundraising was torrential, its disaster response was a trickle.

“The Red Cross would have been helpful if it had offered food, water, shelter, cleaning supplies, blankets,” says Rich Wieland, whose house in Toms River, New Jersey was flooded and whose neighborhood lost power for 16 days. His first contact with the charity came two months after the storm when Red Cross workers finally called to offer aid. “It was too little, too late.”

Richard Sturiale, who saw the basement and first floor of his home in the Rockaways destroyed by flooding, recalls that “the only Red Cross truck my neighbors or I saw came two weeks after the storm.” In contrast, he says, Mormon and Amish volunteers “appeared at my doorstep offering much-needed help” just three days after Sandy.

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Behind closed doors, Red Cross executives acknowledged the effort was falling short. The charity was “not good at scaling up” to the size of the disaster, said the official in charge of the Red Cross disaster response in New York, according to the minutes of the December 2012 meeting to assess the charity’s performance. Among the multiple systems that “failed” was the charity’s tracking of its emergency response vehicles.

Again, top officials impeded the organization’s relief efforts in their zeal to burnish its public profile. An internal “Lessons Learned” PowerPoint presentation lists “hindrances to service delivery.” Its first bullet point: “NHQ” – national headquarters. Under that, it lists one of the problems as “diverting assets for public relation purposes.”

Rieckenberg, who planned the Red Cross’ mass care effort from Washington before the storm hit and then worked on the ground in New York, experienced the problem firsthand. In early November, the Red Cross had a limited number of emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, active in the New York City area.

But multiple officials complained that the vehicles, a crucial part of the relief efforts, were being tied up at press conferences. On Nov. 2, 2012, at the peak of the post-storm crisis, 15 were assigned to public relations duties, Rieckenberg says. Meanwhile, Sandy victims in neighborhoods along the beaches like the Rockaways couldn’t get food and drinkable water. Rieckenberg documented his concerns in an email on Nov. 18, 2012, to Riggen, the Red Cross executive in charge of disaster operations, and later mentioned it in a December email to other top Red Cross disaster volunteers.

Another Red Cross disaster response chief, Steve Ade, complained to a vice president, according to Rieckenberg and two other Red Cross officials.

“I can’t afford to have my ERVs sitting around all morning,” Ade said.

“Stop right there,” a Red Cross executive from headquarters responded. “These are not your ERVs. They belong to Gail and she’s going to do whatever she wants with them,” referring to McGovern, the Red Cross chief executive.

Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern speaks at a post-Sandy press conference on Staten Island with emergency response vehicles as backdrops. Relief workers were angered that the vehicles were diverted for public relations purposes. (Catherine Barde/American Red Cross via Flickr)

In a statement, the Red Cross denied that emergency response vehicles were “dedicated” to public relations duties. The charity said 15 vehicles were distributing supplies at a site in Staten Island where a press conference with then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was held. Rieckenberg says this was 40 percent of all available ERVs; the Red Cross says that’s wrong but could not say how many ERVs were in New York that day.

The vehicles had been sent to Staten Island at the request of the borough president “to address needs in that area,” the charity says. According to the Red Cross, Chief Executive McGovern “participated in the press conference, but Red Cross did not hold the press conference and, to be clear, it was not the reason that ERVs were sent to Staten Island.” (The Red Cross did issue a press release for the event, stating that McGovern would have a “media availability.”)

A Sandy photo-op with Heidi Klum tied up resources, angering a Red Cross official on the ground. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for AOL)

In another diversion, an emergency response vehicle was dispatched to an early December photo-op with supermodel Heidi Klum to tour affected areas with Red Cross supplies, recalled a third senior Red Cross official who requested anonymity because the official still works for the charity. “Did you know it takes a Victoria’s Secret model five hours to unload one box off a truck?” the official says. “I was so mad.”

The Red Cross says Klum was delivering supplies to families.

At the same time emergency vehicles were assigned to public relations duties, the Red Cross was having problems in many other parts of the relief effort, according to the “Lessons Learned” presentation.

Among the more worrisome instances had to do with sex offenders. Red Cross officials are supposed to track sex offenders who come to shelters and confer with law enforcement. But staff “didn’t know/follow procedures,” the presentation notes. There was an additional problem with “ unrelated adults showering with children.”

“It’s hard for us to know based on this document exactly what occurred and where,” the charity wrote in a statement. “The Red Cross has a humanitarian responsibility to provide safe shelter to all people who seek refuge in our facilities and has policies and procedures to handle a wide array of situations, including the presence of sex offenders in shelters.”

More generally, in response to questions from ProPublica and NPR about the “Lessons Learned” presentation, the Red Cross wrote, “Some of the issues were corrected immediately during the response, others we are taking additional steps to improve.”

During the Sandy disaster, some government officials came to resent the Red Cross.

When the storm hit, officials in Bergen County, New Jersey activated their Emergency Operations Center. In keeping with a carefully established plan, representatives from government agencies and charities gather there to coordinate, share information and respond to crises 24 hours a day.

A seat was reserved for the Red Cross, the most important nongovernment responder. But the Red Cross’ seat remained empty for the full duration of the Sandy response.

“They were the only major player not there,” says police lieutenant Matthew Tiedemann, who helped run Bergen County’s response to Sandy. County officials had no easy way to get in touch with Red Cross leadership to tell them about areas of need on the ground, he says.

In one New Jersey county, the Red Cross was AWOL, says Lt. Matthew Tiedemann of the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management. (Michael Rubenstein/NPR)

Turnover and reorganizations appear to have had a corrosive effect on the Red Cross’ effectiveness. The “ biggest challenge,” one top Red Cross official said in the December 2012 meeting, is the “skillset that is possessed by our workforce.” Another was even more stark: The “ caliber of the people is a major issue (this is not a training issue),” according to the meeting minutes.

The Red Cross acknowledges that nearly two-thirds of the volunteers responding to Sandy had never before provided relief after a large disaster.

Staten Island pastors Daniel Delgado and John Rocco Carlo say the Red Cross didn't show up after Sandy.

Some of the Red Cross’ Sandy volunteers were hindered not only by their lack of experience or skills but by their advanced age. As the Red Cross’ internal documents note, the challenges of urban disaster response include physically grueling tasks such as walking up stairs in high rises to get to people in need.

“You’ve got a 75-year-old emergency response vehicle driver who’s got to go up 17 stories to feed a 75-year-old disaster victim. You can’t do that,” bemoaned one top Red Cross official who was on the scene in New York.

Relief workers for other groups often found the Red Cross’ efforts ineffectual and at times even “absurdist,” says Sofía Gallisá Muriente, a volunteer for the relief group Occupy Sandy. She started working in the Rockaways a couple of days after the storm hit and stayed for 10 months.

When the Red Cross finally appeared weeks after the storm, volunteers were planning to distribute flashlights but discovered they had no batteries, she says. One Red Cross staffer came to a Rockaways community center and asked them to donate some. “I was infuriated,” she recalls. “Didn’t Lady Gaga just donate a million dollars to you guys?” she asked the Red Cross staffer. “Buy some batteries with it.”

Bringing volunteers from places like Kansas and North Carolina to New York City, in some cases for the first time, led to problems. Muriente and others recall that Red Cross workers got lost driving around New York without GPS devices, trying to find devastated neighborhoods. In one previously unreported incident that became instantly notorious among Sandy responders, the Red Cross brought a truck full of pork lunches to a Jewish retirement high-rise.

With the charity stumbling badly in the early days after Sandy, Red Cross headquarters began feeling pressure. Sandy victims were going hungry. In early November, headquarters issued an edict that the New York operation needed to start producing more meals.

That wasn’t the problem, Rieckenberg told his superiors. He was in charge of tracking food and, at the time, the Red Cross was already wasting three out of every 10 meals being prepared, he estimates. The real issue was that the Red Cross was failing to gather information about where hungry victims were located.

Officials at the Red Cross’ national headquarters stood firm over Rieckenberg’s objections. They directed a catering company to increase its output dramatically, from 20,000 to 220,000 meals per day. And it had to start with breakfast for 100,000 the next morning.

The Red Cross 'divert[ed] assets for public relations purposes,' says one internal report. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

In the ensuing chaos, the caterer was only able to deliver 70,000 Danishes the following day, Rieckenberg says. The cost to the Red Cross: about $7 apiece, much more than normal. Top Red Cross officials had assured Rieckenberg that someone would get him the locations where staffers could deliver the meals. The list was never supplied. About half of the pastries were wasted. The caterer couldn’t produce the lunches and dinners. Red Cross volunteers had to distribute cold leftover Danishes instead.

“We were pushing every resource we had to its maximum capability,” Riggen, the Red Cross executive, said when asked about the episode.

In response to questions about its performance after Sandy overall, the Red Cross frequently points to the total number of services it says it delivered: 17 million meals and snacks, 74,000 overnight stays in shelters, more than 7 million relief items like blankets and flashlights.

However, one internal report casts doubt on the reliability of these figures: The “sheer size” of the disaster “ crippled our ability to count” the number of relief items distributed, it says. Asked about that, Riggen says “crippled” is “a strong term.” The public enumeration of the Red Cross’ services was accurate, he says.

The focus on public relations persisted throughout the Sandy operation. In early December 2012, Red Cross officials asked Bob Scheifele, who was then mass care chief for New York, to put on a demonstration for donors who had funded the Spirit of America, a giant mobile kitchen attached to a semi, which has the capacity to make 30,000 meals a day.

The Spirit of America had recently been shut down, as the need for meals was tapering off. Scheifele says he made the arrangements to have it restarted, but there was a snafu, and the Spirit of America didn’t get up and running properly.

Top Red Cross executives were furious. Scheifele says they demanded that he fire people under him. He was baffled by the reaction. They hadn’t failed to deliver disaster relief, after all. He says he refused, telling his superiors that if anyone should be let go, it should be him, since he was in charge. The Red Cross sent Scheifele home, dismissing one of its most senior disaster responders.

When a demonstration for donors to show off its giant Spirit of America mobile kitchen went awry, Red Cross top brass dismissed a disaster official. (Jason Colston/American Red Cross via Flickr)

“Public relations became the issue. It was a dog-and-pony show,” Scheifele says. He has since reconciled with top executives and continues to work on disasters for the Red Cross, an organization he says he loves.

The Red Cross maintains that the Spirit of America was reopened to serve the community, not for donors. It declined to provide documentation for its account. Scheifele documented the incident at the time in a “ memo for the record.”

As he had after Hurricane Isaac, Rieckenberg brought his concerns to top Red Cross officials after Sandy. “We became focused on making ‘the numbers look good’ and in ‘showing a presence,’” he emailed Riggen, the Red Cross vice president, on Nov. 18, 2012. He described what happened when he advised his bosses that a suggested feeding plan wouldn’t help storm victims. “I was quite bluntly told that they didn’t care – it was the plan that was going to make the ARC [American Red Cross] look the best to the local politicians,” he wrote.

Rieckenberg recalls that the Red Cross was failing to get cooking supplies to kitchens run by its partner, the Southern Baptists. Those kitchen workers were forced to improvise.

Riggen, the disaster official, pledged to call him the following week. Rieckenberg says he never heard from him.

Before he left New York, Rieckenberg finally was able to look up from his post, leave the relief operation center in Manhattan and get out to see Sandy’s destruction for himself. He encountered an older woman who was running a kitchen for the Southern Baptists. The Red Cross was supposed to be supplying the kitchen with propane, but the woman said it hadn’t arrived. She told him a group of volunteers scraped together $700 to get the supplies they needed.

“I felt so ashamed,” he says.

More recently, sitting on his patio in a small town in New Mexico, he says his experiences in Isaac and Sandy had permanently altered his view of an organization he had loyally served for years. He was asked: Should people give money to the Red Cross? “I don’t donate to the Red Cross. People should do what they think is best for them.”

This story was co-produced with NPR. Theodoric Meyer contributed reporting.

Can you help us with our Red Cross investigation? Share a tip or join our reporters this Friday for a live chat.

Justin Elliott has been a reporter with ProPublica since 2012, covering politics with a focus on money and influence.

Jesse Eisinger is a senior reporter at ProPublica, covering Wall Street and finance. He writes a regular column for the New York Times’s Dealbook section. Laura Sullivan is a NPR News investigative correspondent whose work has cast a light on some of the country’s most disadvantaged people.

Comments Avatar Justin Elliott ProPublica • a month ago I'm Justin Elliott, one of the ProPublica reporters who wrote this story. Have any questions for me about the Red Cross and its response to Sandy and Isaac? Don't hesitate to ask here. And of course comments are welcome. Have you had any experience with the Red Cross? What did you think of the story? 179 •Share ›

622 Comments

Avatar Elizabeth Claiborne • 2 days ago

If you hire a marketing flack to run an actual boots on the ground operation, you'll get image and games playing. Why? Because that's what marketing people do. The breed has no idea about the skills needed to deploy people and material across areas. Look at Maureen McCormicks remarks - 'a brand to die for'? The Red Cross isn't a brand, it's a civilian network that needs to move out quickly when awful things happen. This woman has no clue! And the best PR for the Red Cross is people on the ground, I know cause I've been helped out by them three times after bad floods.

What I saw of the Red Cross in South Louisiana post Katrina/ Rita (there were two cat 5 storms that ripped this place to shreds in two weeks) was helpful, although we got blankets from The French with French writing on them, MREs from the military, etc. Without other countries and orgs doing heavy lifting the Red Cross may have been a mess. There were problems with organization of sites for picking up stuff throughout the city of New Orleans, IE no smoking, no pets, handicapped access, nobody had thought of any of this. And a zillion other details you'd expect to be in a Red Cross Site Handbook! Nobody has looked at the mechanics of doing disaster relief, although god knows Katrina should have left them ready for Sandy. So, what do these full time staff do all day?

When I followed the Sandy situation on Gawker and other sites I was appalled at the absence of the Red Cross. And Salvation Army, who pisses away money on ridiculous things and is phenomenally disorganized as well.

This is a job for the military - people who know how to deploy men and materiel and do it fast. Their field hospitals set up in hours, they have big tents for shelter. And veteran soldiers find a disaster in country a relief, frankly. Helping Americans instead of shooting foreigners is a great assignment according to the 182nd Airborne, who were on duty in my neighborhood post Katrina. If not Military, the Red Cross needs to hire a Mormon. Something in Mormonism requires disaster preparedness that Mormans have turned into an art form; There are organizational skills so honed from running these disaster warehouses they keep it boggles the mind. So that's a thought. Or hire ex military, Or anybody with practical skills, but marketing is not practical especially when people are hungry in the cold with no house or power. And if not as a head - people with said backgrounds can only help get the Red Cross whipped into shape as Vice Presidents or such.

The Sandy response was national disgrace, and embarrassing. Ms. McCormick needs to resign. • Reply•Share ›

Avatar darlene • 7 days ago I have come to the belief that nothing in this world works the way i thought it did ... that said watch the doc Engines of domination ... it lays it all out the power the greed the history behind the world and their puppets . I do not give money to any group anymore i give to people out in the streets that way it gets to the most needy not the greedy .... name them and shame them i say . tc all . I would like to say one thing to the rich and greedy WE SEE YOU NOW ! lol • Reply•Share ›

Avatar NCOriolesFan • 10 days ago Do the simple thing and don't give. I never trusted any organization that wants money. The money never went to the actual people that needed it anyway. 2 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Steven C Robinson • 12 days ago Would have appreciated the article more if 'Red Cross executives' and ' senior Red Cross management' would have named names. Particularly Bonnie McElveen-Hunter who's entire business and political life is about image management, political influence, and self aggrandizement. The depth of your interviews and research is sadly akin to walking around the warehouse seeing who wants to talk. 5 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Justin Elliott ProPublica Steven C Robinson • 7 days ago Hi Steven -- can you email me, justin@propublica.org ? Thanks! • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Skip Kirkwood • 18 days ago The notion of responding to large-scale disasters with volunteers is simply outdated in the 21st century. The number, age, and quality of volunteers is inadquate. And if you hire a 'marketing executive' to be your CEO, what are they going to do? Market! How about a disaster response professional? There are plenty of qualified people around, perhaps not with the correct political connections! 9 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Angry Victim • 18 days ago I personally was a victim of Hurricane Sandy here in NJ.My family lost our home and everything in it.Our family stayed in a 'RED CROSS SHELTER'.Picture night 1 arriving at said shelter upon closure of our towns shelter.No supplies,beds,blankets anything there.Workers from red cross had only shown up there 10 minutes prior to our arrival(the town shelter several busses full of people).We had to go to their trucks several hours later when they arrived and get our own cots and set them up.Everyone went to bed tired,thirsty and hungry.They didnt even have any water there.The next day we received no breakfast our lunch consisted of 1 Gray meatball (yes it really was gray) and a small spoonful of mixed vegetables.I can go on and on.My children were sleeping in a large gym with sex offenders alcoholics and drug users. My kids saw 4 people overdose in just 1 week.Should I continue?They even have my pics without authorization on their article claiming they helped me so much........a sewer rat is treated better. 8 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar NCOriolesFan Angry Victim • 10 days ago Gee you sound like you would welcomed being dead instead. • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Jaclyn H. • 19 days ago As a Registered Nurse, a member of the Red Cross Disaster Volunteer Force, and a 5th generation New Yorker, I think this 'story' is obviously sensationalized and furthers YOUR political needs, which is quite the ironic turn of events. Not only does most of your account lack details and merit, it is insulting and derogatory. If this story affects even one volunteer or donation, and ultimately halts the delivery of aid to one human being following our next impending disaster, I hold you personally responsible. Next time your family and loved ones are involved in such a disaster, the Red Cross will be there....Or after sensationalized stories such as yours reach our public and we do not meet our donation goals, how will you feel when the truck heading to your loved ones is the one that runs out of gas? 3 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Elizabeth Claiborne Jaclyn H. • 2 days ago At your level, the Red Cross works well. Nurses are super competent people who are likely to go Super Nun and show up in the right place anyway. But given the vast amounts of money wasted, and the childish narcissism shown by too many national level management people, it's time to call for a reform of the Red Cross management and organizational levels. The Cross is awash in red ink because these people want to play high school games. We need to know about this, so we can call for change. Seventy million dollars in debt? Nobody's getting any help from a broke relief organization. • Reply•Share ›

Avatar writerink • 19 days ago The Red Cross has been in controversies for years. This story recalled how they raised money to help fire survivors after a fire in Alpine, CA but only 10% of the money went to help those fire victims: http://www.utsandiego.com/unio... 5 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Joe • 20 days ago This guy is a joke.

• Reply•Share › Avatar unpogo • 20 days ago The Red Cross: Its plantation culture In the wake of Katrina, several hundred 9th Ward victims were packed up and transported to 3 Chicago-area facilities that were commandeered by the Red Cross. Trying to offer assistance that was practical rather than monetary, I began to make inquiries to local private schools, businesses and professionals to find out how much they would be willing to help these wretched 'fugees, based upon my presumption that most would never be able to move back in a reasonably timely fashion, &, therefore, would stick around in Chicago. The response was surprisingly positive, to the extent of about 90%. Positive: Local Trader Joe's grocery stores were willing to provide organic foods to the Red Cross while the 'fugees were housed in the 3 facilities; the Starbucks regional director agreed to give the 'fugees top priority in any application for employment in their system in the Midwest while Mayor Daley's Office of Economic Opportunity was willing to offer its services; my chiropractor and a massage therapist were willing to offer free treatment at the facilities; a national supplement chain offered free supplements; an attorney friend offered free legal advice for applying to FEMA for assistance and for other legal matters; a realtor friend and his partner offered to find, first, temporary no-cost housing in vacant apartments outside of the Red Cross facilities, then, permanent housing once they had found employment; 8 of 9 private Christian schools that would take 1-3 students with the heavy tuition costs waived and provide them with free textbooks and supplies. Negative: Once these charitable offers has been lined up, I went to the central Red Cross facility and presented them. The administrative aide was delighted and said he would take the offer into his superiors. His his superiors never responded. Approaching a second facility where the 'fugees were kept, where the word 'kept' is used in the plantation sense, the offer was also turned down, even after appealing to the local fix-it news broadcaster, Walter Jacobson, who also ignored my plea; apparently the Red Cross was TBTFw (figure it out). Curiosity about why the highly esteemed Red Cross seemed so protective and possessive about its charges, I investigated the origins and meaning of the Red Cross. Too much nasty information, so, I leave it to you to break it down further. 6 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Elizabeth Claiborne unpogo • 2 days ago We are not, and never were 'fugees'! That is Sooo Offensive! The people you were trying to help are displaced American Citizens, and never forget it. Refugees flee to other countries. These people were shanghaied across country to a place where they have no family or friends, probably without being asked. They were going into deep emotional shock and probably wound up depressed. Not to mention that a New Orleanian has no clue how to dress for or in any way get along in snow or cold. Way to culture shock people! Have them die of hypothermia. You have no clue what plantation anything is, but I still plant a string of them and have to deal with the baggage of that word constantly. You have worse plantation culture issues than my father with this 'fugees' slur. And his all comes from a KA frat house, not the farms. You should have taken some black ladies from Hollygrove who would have taught you manners about labeling and othering people. • Reply•Share ›

Avatar misterjag Elizabeth Claiborne • a day ago Why are you arguing semantics? • Reply•Share ›

Avatar mbr1973 • 20 days ago I'm thrilled that somebody has finally had the guts & integrity to tell the truth about ARC. They've been duping and robbing millions decent people for decades. It's not the volunteers- most of them are not paid anything. It's the corporation. They have built an outrageous con-game sham into an iconic 'good-guys' myth, and people still volunteer and give them money, either because 1.they believe the lie, or 2.there's nothing else that has so much power and influence to do good, if only it would. That is the greatest disgrace. It's just one of many. Too may people worship money. It's that simple. An too many other people accept that as okay. 13 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar victoria c. • 20 days ago Don't donate money or blood to the Red Cross, they are getting rich from the gifts we thought would go to people in need- like they say it will, and blood sales is their biggest source of income. They don;t even teach first aid anymore, which is good because their course hasn't really been updated since the 1950's. 4 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar victoria c. • 20 days ago In the Heidi Klum propaganda picture, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to clearly see that both of these people are carrying EMPTY boxes just for show. Th Red Cross takes honest people's money and rakes off millions for its 'managers' and 'administrators' who obviously are doing next-to-nothing to actually help anyone except themselves 5 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar JH victoria c. • 18 days ago What makes you say they're empty? -- It's not like a box of diapers is heavy. 1 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Gilgamesh • 21 days ago I am a long term American National Red Cross (yes, that is the proper name) volunteer. My area of expertise is Mass Care Sheltering Supervisor. In short I open, run and close shelters. I also on occasion volunteer as an ERV (emergency response vehicle) driver. I served at both Isaac and Sandy. Were there problems? Could some decisions, some actions been better? Was the Red Cross response to these disasters perfectly flawless? Yes, Yes and No. The problem with ProPublica's article is objectivity or the lack thereof. Your request at the end of the article says it all: 'Can you help us with our Red Cross investigation?' The tactics of the demagogue are on full display in your 'investigation'. Sad, very sad. 13 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Patio • 22 days ago

my father, who fought in WWII and Korea told his family...never give to the Red Cross...they charged us for everything....the Salvation Army was charity! 7 • Reply•Share ›

Avatar Janet Patio • 18 days ago Same here. My dad came home after serving in the Pacific after WWII and had his wallet and ticket back home to Chicago stolen. Red Cross would not help him, Salvation Army gave him ticket and some spending money, no questions asked. He and his entire family never gave a penny to the Red Cross again. However the Salvation Army has been paid back for their kindness many thousands of times over. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Lynn Gottlieb • 22 days ago I am glad that my blood donations go to our regional blood bank--Puget Sound Blood Center (even though this article is not about that program) and my relief money goes to American Jewish World Services (which has a much better track record). • Reply•Share › Avatar This comment was deleted. Avatar SqueakyRat Emile'sGhost • 19 days ago Wow, straight-up anti-Semitic stereotyping, right here on ProPublica . . . 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar Carolyn • 22 days ago Deepest thanks to Justin Elliott for his persistence in gathering the material needed to expose the the financial abuses of the ARC! I've long understood the ARC is all about self-promotion and wasted donor dollars so have always found up and running organizations local to disasters to donate to. I'm repeating an anecdote I posted on one of Justin's previous articles which still has me seething: A retired friend who lives in Washington State did a short stint volunteering for the Red Cross. As news of Hurricane Katrina began flooding the airways, she managed to get her local Red Cross chapter to fly her to Louisiana so she could use her 'training' to pass out water bottles - a job any local would have been thrilled to help with. Also paid for were motel accommodations and a daily stipend. After reading so many of the comments below, I realize this event is just another example of the ARC's inflexibility/unwillingness to make good use of hard-earned donor dollars. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar Don • 22 days ago Justin et al, you're all doing a fantastic job of reporting on the Red Cross and the Red Cross is trying its best to deny and cover up. I used to donate blood to the Red Cross twice a year. I haven't in over a year due to computer snafus and your reporting. It was getting more difficult to set up a blood donation appointment. I wonder how that section of RC is doing? Thank you, Don • Reply•Share › Avatar Jill Budzynski • 23 days ago Problems scaling up for the storms? That's their job, in fact, JOB ONE. How many incompetent CEOs does the USRC have to have before their brand is worthless? I never donate to the USRC, haven't since Katrina -- they don't know how to help people, just rake in the money. For shame. 12 • Reply•Share › Avatar No Friend of the RC • 23 days ago Nothing in the least bit surprising here, to anyone who has had any experience with the Red Cross. At the national level, their concern is with money. Nothing more, nothing less. That takes priority over planning emergency relief. At the local level, things are run by people who often lack any relevant skills or training. I was a volunteer for a couple of years in Colorado, and we (only half jokingly) referred to the leadership as the 'bored first wives club.' Leadership positions were largely held by people with no careers, who had enough income from other sources that they could afford the time during the workday to sit in endless meetings and send themselves on junkets. Volunteers were expected to be on-call 24/7 for small emergencies like house fires, but the leadership was unwilling to pay attention to the volunteers' feedback, or utilize their skills appropriately. And there was tremendous waste of donated supplies, in no small part as a result of this attitude. I once spent a weekend slashing open bottles of water and destroying canned food because the supplies were nearing their expiration dates, and no one had bothered to track those. And the risk-adverse leadership wasn't even willing to donate it to a homeless shelter or foodbank, since it was old and they didn't want to get sued if someone claimed a tummy ache as a result. Food and water, instead of being stored on pallets and moved with a forklift or pallet jack, were moved from stack to stack by hand, with no tracking of lot numbers or expiration dates. No attempt was made to segregate different lots of supplies, nor keep inventories that tracked that information. So inventory control became an endless busy-work process of volunteers moving boxes back and forth every month by hand, in a search for expired and soon-to-expire supplies. I and other volunteers with military or commercial inventory control experience continually tried to get the leadership to address this problem. But it was easier for them to ask for (tax deductible) donations for new supplies than to responsibly use what they already had on hand. Every time I see the Red Cross begging for donations on TV, all I remember is punching holes in the tops of donated cans of food before throwing them in a dumpster. see more 21 • Reply•Share › Avatar cwaltz • 23 days ago People should ask themselves what government is for. Then they should ask themselves WHY it is that we have to hold bake sales after disasters occur but when it comes to waging war that the government viewpoint is money is no object? It's pretty clear to me that the government ignores addressing problems at home and instead spends all it's resources trying to acquire resources and influence in OTHER PARTS of the world. This doesn't benefit the majority of us. It benefits a small portion of greedy, rich people who never seem to have enough. 7 • Reply•Share › Avatar darlene cwaltz • 7 days ago cwaltz , I have asked myself that question ( what is goverment for ) i urge you to watch a doc called Engines of domination ... in it you see the tools used to control the people the money and countries poor all for profit . I know the world does not work the way i thought it did and lots of folks are realizing this too ... tc all . • Reply•Share › Avatar kjmclark cwaltz • 22 days ago You do know that the Red Cross is a private organization - not a part of government, at any level, right? If you want to rant about gubermint that you don't understand, please take it somewhere else, this story is about the private charity called the Red Cross. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar cwaltz kjmclark • 20 days ago Actually it's a public private partnership. 'The modern-day Red Cross was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a unique part in responding to disasters. The iconic charity has a government mandate to work alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency in relief efforts. Which part of Congressional charter and work alongside FEMA is confusing to you? 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar member cwaltz • 20 days ago That charter was in 1905, and such charters were simply honorariums to praise private organizations for good works. A Congressional did NOT (and does not, though RC succinctly implies that it does) convey any governmental rights, affiliations or powers. Such charters were outlawed entirely in 1992, partly due to the mistaken assumption that they bestowed some type of Federal government sanction. They did not, and do not. The connection or 'partnership' of RC with any Federal agency or authority is just more Red Cross false idea cleverly implied as truth. It's all SPIN. The Red Cross is a sham that exploits not just the public, but its hardworking and loyal volunteers most of all. Most of the honest people get out when they find out what it really is, but usually they don't talk about it. 3 • Reply•Share › Avatar KM kjmclark • 21 days ago FEMA and the American Red Cross are co-leaders in relief efforts. The line between private and public seems slightly blurred. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar gindog kjmclark • 22 days ago the british red cross is connected to their MI5 or MI6, why not realize that the American red cross might beconnected to our 'intelligence' groups? I'd bet they probably are, but who'll report the redcross farce on MSM? until then the public will keep on giving and believing they're perfect and wonderful. the battle of the bulge stories that show up in these comments give a big clue, IMO. in other words, the truth and history of the red cross go way back-- like the deep state does. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar darlene gindog • 7 days ago bingo ... watch the doc Engines of domination ... its all there POWER GREED AND CONTROL .... enjoy all . • Reply•Share › Avatar Chris • 24 days ago I have always given to the Salvation Army and local charities. The Red Cross has always been suspect to me, talking out of both sides of their PR mouth, much like the ASPCA. My father, also a WWII veteran told stories about the RC that were not complimentary at all. The bigger the organization, the greater the propensity for duplicity behind closed doors. 8 • Reply•Share › Avatar gindog Chris • 22 days ago and maybe the greater the propensity for duplicity and secrecy, the bigger the organization! that's how it seems these days-- the tentacles of the octopus are long, the octopus is humungous. or, the u.s. government, now additionally a million subcontractors, so many no one even knows how many? for example? who knows how big the red cross is, anyway? 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar grumbles in michigan • 24 days ago I remember the Red cross SELLING food to the victims (and Navy volunteer workers) of the 1983 Fallon, NV flood. Food drawn from and prepared by the Navy Galley at NAS FALLON. The Salvation Army was giving out food and supplies without charge. My father a WWII veteran hated the Red Cross and truthfully as a Navy veteran who spent a great deal of time deployed overseas, I have not a thing to say about the Red Cross that is suitable for mixed company. 18 • Reply•Share › Avatar timsambrano • 24 days ago thank you for the story. had no idea was so bad. wow mabey a new Disaster grass roots Volunteer org. should take their place.something needs to be done. now. 3 • Reply•Share › Avatar Randall • 24 days ago As an active Disaster Team Volunteer...I also am distressed that these reviews are coming to light. Having not been deployed on either of these situations...I can't comment on the validity, but if they are even remotely truthful, I am extremely sorry. I will however swear that those practices are not occurring in Southwest Missouri and that I have seen and experienced nothing but good. I am personally still very proud to be involved. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar Rich • 24 days ago While the Red Cross might win a 'Spinmeister' award from the PR Society of America, the ProPublica reporters might win a Pulitzer Prize for exposing this sham of disaster response. Thank you for including my comments in the announcement of this important report. 11 • Reply•Share › Avatar Dave Gardner • 25 days ago If you want some less than stellar reviews of the red cross, talk to any WWII, Korea or Veteran. I can't speak of the younger veterans, as I have no personal experience of their travails. I'm a veteran, son of a veteran and grandson of a veteran (both grandfather's). 7 • Reply•Share › Avatar Emile'sGhost Dave Gardner • 19 days ago Generations of baby killers. Cool. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar Susan Dave Gardner • 24 days ago My Father, My Uncles and my late Husband all of whom were WW2 Veterans had utterly no use for the Red Cross. I have no use for them because I worked on the Coalinga Earthquake first for the National Guard and them two weeks later for the Red Cross--after the local, state and national groups finished a two week turf war over who was in charge. Once the Guard and the US Navy (Lemoore NAS) pulled out the food dropped to subsistance level and so did other supplies. At the end of the year I got a 'bill' from them telling me how much I should 'donate' to them for having volunteered. 8 • Reply•Share › Avatar grumbles in michigan Susan • 24 days ago I have seen many instances where the Navy stepped up to the plate while the Red Cross jockeyed for better press coverage. As to the National Guard and other services, I have no experience with them, but inasmuch as they are trained to respond NOW, not later and not for the public relations media, I assume they do a very good job. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar MikkiTii • 25 days ago Sandy wasn't my first run in with the Red Cross. I stopped donating to the Red Cross way back in 1972. When the Red Cross showed up in Wilkes Barre Pa after the flood in 1972 we all thought 'finally, some real help'. But it was not to be. The Red Cross could be seen everywhere. But when we finally got one of their trucks to stop we found out that it was empty, literally empty, and had nothing to offer anyone. When we asked the driver (a volunteer) why they were there, the immensely frustrated driver said 'I honestly don't know'. And this wasn't the only volunteer who felt like they were wasting their time, none of them had any real instructions, equipment, food, blankets, or idea what they were really there for, other than to 'show the flag' by driving around in trucks plastered with Red Cross insignia. It was heartbreaking. Then again during Sandy, left with no shelter, or food, we showed up at a Red Cross 'assistance center' where they were serving hot food, and we were turned away because the food was 'for first responders only'. Not only that, the Red Cross made a terrible situation even worse just by showing up. With no food or shelter to be had from the them, we walked 10 miles to the nearest open hotel and found that all the rooms had been rented- BY THE RED CROSS! In fact not only had that hotel been rented out by Red Cross volunteers, so had every hotel we could reach by phone in the area. They'd also rented up all the generators, bought up the local supply of batteries, and flashlights, bottled water, and pretty much every other emergency supply you could think of, making life even harder for all those already in a tough spot. From what I can see, the Red Cross both is, and has been a joke, a terribly cruel joke, for a very long time. I'd love to know how much those who run the Red Cross make, because I strongly suspect that that's where most of the donation money goes. They're just another organization that's come to believe that the visibility of their 'brand' matters far more than the service they provide. DON'T GIVE TO THE RED CROSS! They're just media whores that take advantage of the good intentions of volunteers, and Good Samaritans. 24 • Reply•Share › Avatar Susan MikkiTii • 24 days ago Add to that most of the money donated for US disasters winds up going to the International Red Cross for use the donors may not have wanted to donate to. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar sally • 25 days ago I am heart broken by the vitriol in some of these comments and by your request to 'help in the investigation.' The 'Red Cross' is not some evil society. It is made up of thousands of your friends and neighbors who get up in the night, in horrible conditions to help someone who has suffered in many cases an unimaginable devastation. It is someone who is doing this because they believe no one should suffer alone. The 'Red Cross', is the volunteer who donates life saving blood. The 'Red Cross', is the volunteer who reaches out to a service man or woman giving good news or arranging for their safe passage home following the death of a family member. The 'Red Cross, is the volunteer who drops everything to stay in many cases in a dorm room or a cot in a shelter to ensure that someone who has lost their house due to a disaster has a roof over their head and food.That is the Red Cross and that is what your donations allow us to do, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Do I or my fellow volunteers always get it right, no, but will we be there next time something happens to a single family or a large scale disaster, yes, we will. 5 • Reply•Share › Avatar kjmclark sally • 22 days ago Yes, the volunteers do their best, but when the CEO alone is paid more than the US President, a lot of the money is not going to get to the volunteer level. 9 • Reply•Share › Avatar bikewimp sally • 23 days ago The issue and acrimony is not with the volunteers nor the employees. They are selfless, caring and worthy humans responding to crisis. The fault is with the leadership (or lack thereof). Their paid job is to provide relief to those in crises via their network of volunteers and staff who deliver food, set up shelter, water, etc. The acrimony is for those who squander the good deeds of others by not delivering on the promise of the Red Cross: relief. As the article notes, donations drop when no disasters occur, and that is when the PR campaign kicks into gear. If leadership then puts PR first during a crisis (when relief should be top priority), that is a sin (i'd call it just less than evil). 4 • Reply•Share › Avatar sally • a month ago I am heart broken by the vitriol in some of these comments and by your request to 'help in the investigation.' The 'Red Cross' is not some evil society. It is made up of thousands of your friends and neighbors who get up in the night, in horrible conditions to help someone who has suffered in many cases an unimaginable devastation. It is someone who is doing this because they believe no one should suffer alone. The 'Red Cross', is the volunteer who donates life saving blood. The 'Red Cross', is the volunteer who reaches out to a service man or woman giving good news or arranging for their safe passage home following the death of a family member. The 'Red Cross, is the volunteer who drops everything to stay in many cases in a dorm room or a cot in a shelter to ensure that someone who has lost their house due to a disaster has a roof over their head and food.That is the Red Cross and that is what your donations allow us to do, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Do I or my fellow volunteers always get it right, no, but will we be there next time something happens to a single family or a large scale disaster, yes, we will. 4 • Reply•Share › Avatar member sally • 20 days ago Please wake up. NONE of those activities you describe are done by the paid employees of the Red Cross. You KNOW THIS! They are done, just as these posts testify, by the American people and the volunteers who SERVE people in need, and to the best of my experience and knowledge, they are paid nothing except transportation and some expenses, and in some cases not that either, They do it for the noble reasons and principles you say the RC has -YES, it is heartbreaking, but it's time to challenge the corporate lies and greed that are at the heart of the organization, an entity that feeds insatiably off the kindness and generosity of millions of honest people who believe we are helping people in need. We aren't sharing what little we have, just to buy Red Cross administrators another Mercedes or a summer home in Belize. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar RickR • a month ago Good coverage on Democracy Now. HOWEVER - the focus was almost entirely on sensational and easy sound/visual bites: ERVs used as PR backdrops and Heidi Klum. Sure, these things happened. BUT, they are trivial! The amount of resources used on these is minuscule compared to the scope of the effort. How about some facts and figures? How many RC vehicles worked Sandy? How much time did they spend working? How much did they deliver? Now, how many and how much time was spent on PR backdrops? We know Heidi used at least one for a few hours, along with a few staff. I will bet you the number [(effort on PR and Heidi) / (effort on relief)] is very small. Small to the point of being irrelevant. There are things to improve, for sure. However, good investigative journalism focuses on substance and not easy sensationalism. How about scrapping this whole story and going back and doing a real investigation on what works, what doesn't - AND, what is needed to do better. BTW, I can guarantee that in any disaster-type situation it is easy to find victims who did not get what they should, what they needed - or especially what they wanted and thought they were entitled to. 17 • Reply•Share › Avatar Red Cross Worker-bee • a month ago I am a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer and was employed as an office manager for Red Cross. I just want to say--Please Do Not Blame the Volunteers!!! The volunteers I have worked with are some of the most hard-working and dedicated people I've ever known, who care deeply for the people in their communities. I've seen volunteers work 12-16 hr days during a disaster and other volunteers working 40 hrs a week doing events/office support--they receive no pay and rarely get the appreciation they deserve! I agree that the problems mentioned do exist-but the blame should be properly placed on the Red Cross Leadership. I have witnessed changes in my own chapter that NHQ has made--decrease in cpr/firstaid classes, class quality reduced, cut-backs in training for disaster volunteers, decreased funds to do community fundraising events, smaller chapters closing and bigger ones taking over, reduced community presence in areas that do not provide significant fundraising. Cutbacks have been so bad that VOLUNTEERS have used their own money to buy furniture/paint and make building repairs and buy prizes/decorations for events, and buy food/beverages during disaster and for important meetings. 96% of the Red Cross workforce are volunteers (these are the people that do the work on the ground) but their hands are tied by what NHQ allows them to do and now NHQ wants to have volunteers take over more duties without staff or leadership at the local level. They see their volunteers as laborers (not generous people giving their time and knowledge to fulfill a mission) and take full advantage of these service-oriented and giving people. Volunteers need SUPPORT to do their jobs properly. They need training and leadership and equipment. They need to be communicated to and constantly handed down knowledge. Right now that is not the case and it is so hard to see volunteers so frustrated and unappreciated. The volunteers are doing their best and often far more than that! They want to fulfill the Red Cross mission but are being severely hampered. NHQ-Red Cross Leadership (those getting the big bucks)-GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! Closing your eyes to the problems (denying their existence) and building yourself up is going to cause the organization to crumble. Stop making lofty goals and promising amazing changes--get out there and take action now by supporting your volunteers. 8 • Reply•Share › Avatar worldly12 • a month ago ProPublica - there was an Aspen Institute report after Katrina that praised the recovery work in some international ngos such as Save the Children and Mercy Corps and mentioned that it was good they were involved because domestic groups' response was inadequate, including Red Cross. I found this to be true on the ground and the intent isn't to slay Red Cross, but to examine who we can respond to the growing number of bigger disasters coming our way. They are not reliable and that's a concern that has a cost to all of us. 9 • Reply•Share › Avatar Amanda Zamora ProPublica • a month ago More questions about our Red Cross investigation? ProPublica reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger are taking your questions NOW on Reddit. Ask them anything: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/c... • Reply•Share › − Avatar member Amanda Zamora • 20 days ago I went there. It's just the same old double-talk they've been using for more than 40 years, and if you actually look at it for meaning, you'll easily see, there is none. It's just factless, groundless, totally unsubstantiated babble. Look again. Go the the Red Cross website and look for list of actual things they've done. There isn't one, anywhere. There aren't any first aid classes anymore either (which is good because they were obsolete anyway, since the 1950s). Every website page has a large, (not request, but demand): 'Give $10 now by dialing 90999.' Go see for yourself. They don't even bother to lie about it, we're so stupid, we just assume they are doing good things, just because they are the Red Cross. It's way past time to wake up. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Phyllis • a month ago Well, since NPR decided to show only one side of the story, here's the Red Cross's response. It is certainly more in-line with what I saw when I participated in the Red Cross's Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Operation in NJ. I'm assuming NPR will take the high road for a change and doesn't delete this post. http://redcrosschat.org/2014/1... 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Scott L. Davis • a month ago I guess, its how you read or, 'read-into' the whole story.....really?...'Disaster Expert'...Richard Rieckenberg...wow, I wonder if that was a higher pay grade then what I had as a 17 year, 'Disaster Specialist”. I would like to compare our past missions and see the level of 'expert'. Maybe you got the 'expert' title, if you did really-super well in the old Mass Care II class....Sounds like a 'super-secret' job title, or better yet; a neatly wordy title to boost a poorly written package. At best - 10 mins of instant fame...nothing more than that. The first rule of disaster response - they are all different and each response is different - not turn-key. Triggers to each response are turn-key; which doesn't take an 'expert' to follow. I'm befuddled that any true media source would highlight the mutterings of a “former employee”. Sorry, but when folks are fired or dismissed from a position, 'prior to story run'..Totally, instantly; losses value and credibility to the story. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar member Scott L. Davis • 20 days ago They were not fired. They quit for ethical reasons. Didn't you even read them? And many of the letters were written by volunteers, they were not fired- they were never paid employees. They were volunteers, didn't you read that? What part of the word 'volunteer' don't you understand? 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar Sumguy Scott L. Davis • 24 days ago Your critical thinking and reasoning skills are weak, as proven by your weak defense of the Red Cross in your post. The whole point of the article is that disaster relief operations were hindered by Red Cross executives, as evidenced by the 'Lessons Learned' powerpoint document and meeting minutes. The article provides a few compelling problems. The organization is run like a money making brand soliciting donations wanting to show donors that their funds are being put to use, and in the face of major disasters they attempt to cover their lack of preparation and training with public relations efforts. Your only point--that the person running one of the most visible disaster relief operations in Manhattan shouldn't be trusted because he isn't paid an executive salary and was fired (and later rehired)--ignores the emails and memos he provided, or eyewitness accounts from other people that the Red Cross didn't show up until weeks after other groups, and didn't attend coordination meetings with local governments that other agencies did. When the Red Cross was given an opportunity to respond, they deny the allegations raised but didn't provide any emails, memos, or proof to corroborate their denials. The American Red Cross would have been better off without your post here. You should have left the defense to the PR agency or social media interns, who no doubt would have provided a more compelling and persuasive defense. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar Scott L. Davis Sumguy • 22 days ago Nice attack rebuttal. Guess, I struck a nerve. Good! LOL....sounds you have defended yourself to the tee, Mr. Rieckenberg. Well, at least in your eyes. I'm not really seeing where I defended the organization...soooo....'your point?' WOW, So sensitive. Heck, grow a pair and brave up; at least use your real name...yawn....this piece, as you...yesterday's news. Do yourself a favor, stay away from Vegas, you have no poker face. Your response is just a self-justified attack, to spout off; a 'make ya feel good'. No matter. The organization still is doing what it does. If your so inclined to see change, join in and do your part; roll those sleeves up, cupcake; and lets get going....or...just keep typing and providing the chuckle, for the rest of us. I'll just say I'm sorry that I got under your crawl....well, not really 'that' sorry. Have a pocket full of sunshine day! Cheers! • Reply•Share › Avatar EX RED CROSS EMPLOYEE Scott L. Davis • a month ago Perhaps you need to check your facts about people's credentials. The term Chief has been used at ARC NHQ for several years and is the highest title within each functional area. You my friend, are vastly out of step with Red Cross structure and operations. Check your facts next time. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Scott L. Davis EX RED CROSS EMPLOYEE • 22 days ago I guess, maybe YOU should read the piece. The term used, was the one listed in the piece - 'Disaster Expert'. Chief, is used internally, payroll line item term and title at best; ....matters? • Reply•Share › Avatar kiljoy616 • a month ago Another of our great past institutions becoming broken and useless. 7 • Reply•Share › Avatar RickZ kiljoy616 • 25 days ago The RC was never so great in the past. It was broken and considered useless by many years ago. 8 • Reply•Share › Avatar Anne • a month ago Hi Justin - great article. I think the name 'Red Cross' translates as 'American Red Cross' in most American's minds, but the full name was only stated once in the article's body, about 2/3 of the way through the story. While I applaud the investigatory nature of this article and I do hope it prompts people to look into the organizations that they donate to, I think it's worth explaining that the American Red Cross is part of the Federation and a separate body from other Red Cross Red Crescent movements and the International Committee of the Red Cross. While this story highlights the weaknesses, failures, etc. during the Sandy response, the ICRC and IFRC's members are instrumental in myriad responses around the globe, and I do hope that clarifying ARC in the scheme of things will help people discern who to give their money to for responses such as Syria, CAR, South Sudan, etc. 14 • Reply•Share › Avatar Imago Dei Anne • 24 days ago The Red Cross needs to be evaluated in every country--case in point--the dismal response of the Red Cross when Gaza was under bombardment. Red Cross medical workers were calling out to the Red Cross in Israel, they were promised help that never came or they were hung up on. The ICRC did virtually nothing to intervene to save the injured from the battlefield, and in fact, joined with the aggressors, in this case Israel, to form a joint 'think tank'! No, it seems the Red Cross has outgrown its usefulness and has been co-opted with power and politics. Sadly, I'm a Red Cross Disaster Management volunteer 3 • Reply•Share › Avatar Susan Imago Dei • 24 days ago In the first place it would be the Red Cresent in Gasa and The Mogan David in Israel and last time I checked the Red Cross didn't 'associate' with the Mogen David. 4 • Reply•Share › Avatar Imago Dei Susan • 24 days ago Pardon me, that would have been the ICRC-ILOT. In any case, the need for Red Cross help was beyond desperate and they merely stood on the sidelines, violating their own established mission under the Geneva Conventions for delivering medical aid to the victims of warfare. The suffering and carnage continues and the Red Cross continues to fail to respond in any meaningful way. 5 • Reply•Share › Avatar Justin Elliott ProPublica Anne • a month ago Anne -- very good point. For a fuller explanation of the American Red Cross (the subject of our story) vs. other organizations with 'Red Cross' in their titles, see here: http://www.redcross.org/about-... 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar NoJoke2012 Justin Elliott • 21 days ago When someone asserts we draw a distinction between the entities, they are creating a false illusion the money is not transfered between entities by allocations to programs outside the district. So, when we donate to ARC for Sandy or Katrina or whatever event inspires us to give, monetarily, AND THEN the money isn't allocated for Sandy or Katrina or whatever event inspired us, we must follow the money trail to what it does fund. A ruse. Follow the money and you will uncover some questionable activity and what is actually occuring, globally, when we are all led to believe -- by the PR campaign and intentional camera chasing -- the donations are getting to Sandy or Katrina victims. What are the objectives of the IFRC ICRC or any RC entity? Ask Geneva. Who are the kingpins? What is their character? What are they funding? Who (if anyone) is monitoring the RC Organization. Who AUDITS them? Continue the investigation. Do not stop until the truth is uncovered. Press on. • Reply•Share › Avatar 07rescue • a month ago Thanks, Justin! It's very hard to coordinate disaster relief with staff and volies who are not local. I was a volunteer first responder (paramedic) for over 40 years before cancer derailed me, and It was so important to be able to coordinate and integrate with knowledgeable locals whenever real help was needed. I always listened to local direction to deliver care, because the upper echelons of any organization, the ARC or others, never was adequate. I feel it is very important to emphasize local civic volunteerism over the massive aid organizations, who inevitably bungle important tasks and waste resources. I feel the ARC should act primarily as a fund raising vehicle, and funnel it's resources to locals who know what they are doing. That would be a far more valuable service than bungling the jobs over and over, and a much more effective use of its 'brand'. 9 • Reply•Share › Avatar member 07rescue • 20 days ago Are you kidding? That would be out of the question, since the primary goal and function of the ARC is to MAKE money, not to share it. They aren't interested in giving it away! If they were, the whole operational structure would be totally different. It's set up as a get-rich rakeoff scheme, and at that it has been immensely successful for more than 60 years. It's time for a change. • Reply•Share › Avatar Remittance Girl • a month ago The disease of 'appearing to do the right thing' over substantive and effective work plagues almost every large organization in the world these days. This is by no means a problem that affects only the Red Cross. 6 • Reply•Share › Avatar Mazoniaman • a month ago Worst piece of yellow journalism. Yes, things go wrong in disasters. Duh! Sometimes people make stupid and bad decisions, they should be reported and fired. Blame the whole organization! You can find 5-10 malcontents in every organization. How about your organization? Maybe we should interview all the people who were fired or quit, and believe whatever they say about you. After every drill, practices, and disaster, every great organization has to critique itself, why not publish it, eveybody's. Forget about the millions of meals, they wasted some danishes! You idiots, you have to throw out food that goes bad. Ever work in a restaurant? I guess not.. They didn't come help people who hid in their homes and waited for someone to find them. They didn't have batteries for everybody's flashlights. Oh, do you happen to have everything on hand all of the time for millions of people? They didn't deliver everything to everyone instantly, and mis-delivered some things. They used college kids as volunteers. Aren't you supposed to? The Red Cross is a great organization and you're a crummy journalist, but I didn't have to tell anyone that who read your story.Put some infographics on it, maybe they'll believe us now, not!. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar Martha J. • a month ago I've never worked directly as a RC volunteer but I've been through my share of hurricanes and flooding. After Hurricane Katrina when 50,000+ people from Louisiana were bussed to Houston, the mayor turned to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Service to organize everything. They were superb. I bet an executive from that organization could run the RC much better than a marketing professor. 18 • Reply•Share › Avatar 1701boza Martha J. • 25 days ago The Southern Baptists are the ones that cook the food that the Red Cross distributes in the majority of instances. Red Cross has a working relationship with them. Red Cross prepares little of the the food, and works in tandem with other nonprofits in a joint effort to get the job done. Southern Baptists and Salvation Army do not have the means to distribute food, who h the Red Cross does. They work together. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Martha J. 1701boza • 22 days ago The shelter located in the downtown convention center was definitely a collaboration, and ARC was one of the agencies helping. However, the Southern Baptists organized a great deal of the facility and the volunteers. I want you to imagine a convention center divvied up to provide areas for sleeping, eating, and showering for close to 6,000 people, plus medical care, behavioral health, FEMA, internet access, children's play area, laundry, etc. Each 4-hour work shift required literally hundreds of volunteers. The SBC quickly got the word out to every house of worship in the county and started running massive training sessions in a couple of the big Baptist churches and managing a website for volunteers to sign-up for shifts. It was truly incredible. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar EX RED CROSSER Martha J. • a month ago Actually, the southern baptists often cook from Red Cross feeding trucks such as the Spirit of America using food supplied by ARC. the prepared food is often the distributed bt ARC ERV's, Salvation Army canteens, etc. all funded by ARC dollars. Bet you didn't know that, did you.... 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar member EX RED CROSSER • 20 days ago Then why didn't they say so? Why don't they say anything at all on their website about what they do, except 'help' and 'assist' and other totally vague empty buzzwords and meaningless phrases? Answer: they don't dare expose how little they actually do, for all those millions of dollars we donate. • Reply•Share › Avatar Daniel Case • a month ago In reading the internal memo about what improvements are needed, I got a sense of how complex and challenging a large disaster operation can be. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar Sharon Quilter • a month ago Great job Justin! I will never donate a penny to the Red Cross. I am trying to rebuild in Ortley Beach post Sandy. A small church from Delaware helped us rip up carpeting, move out ruined furniture, held me while I sobbed. I received a first aid kit and a hand crank radio from the Red Cross. My neighbor got a box of chocolate and a broom. 7 • Reply•Share › Avatar MO • a month ago Here's a pre-2008 (before I became an emergency responder) decision by national Red Cross offices that made NYC Red Cross volunteers nuts because it reflected how little they understood NYC: At one point it was possible to give families money for laundry, since clothes undamaged by fire still stink of smoke. Apparently that budget line was eliminated at the national level over the protests of New York folks, who tried to explain that practically no one has their own washer and dryer. (Told to me by a longtime volunteer whom I trust completely.) 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar JGlackin • a month ago The Red Cross has had a less than admirable at least since they were SELLING coffee and doughnuts at the Battle of the Bulge. I worked with a man who was a Master Sgt in the MP's, and was in Bastogne. He swore that happened on a bottle of 21 year old Tullamore Dew. And you can't get more serious than that. 7 • Reply•Share › Avatar Susan JGlackin • 24 days ago My late Husband was a Combat Medic with the 78th Div at the Battle of the Bulge and told the same damn story. Similar stories were told by my Father and Uncles all of whom were in the CBI Theater. 3 • Reply•Share › Avatar MO JGlackin • a month ago It did happen--because Secretary of War Stimson requested it. It was NOT the Red Cross' idea. 5 • Reply•Share › Avatar Susan MO • 24 days ago The Salvation ARmy didn't charge though. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar MO Susan • 24 days ago You would have to ask the Salvation Army. I have provided the link to the letter the Red Cross got. Ant other research about other groups, would be up to you. • Reply•Share › Avatar JGlackin MO • a month ago Please document that. And, was the request made before or after they were encircled? That is one of the many black marks against the Red Cross I have come across. I had personal contact with them from Hazel in 1954 through Camille (1969), Gloria (1985) and Irene (2011). The main thing I learned is they never learned. They followed the same rules and procedures in Vermont in 2011 they used on the Gulf in 1969. It would be good if you provided the amounts received and dispensed at every major disaster, at least since WW II. The RC has ridden the good will for decades that they have rarely deserved. 8 • Reply•Share › Avatar MO JGlackin • a month ago There seems to be a delay in seeing posts with links. Please see my earlier reply to BoobietheRocketDog. The link takes you to a scan of the Stimson letter. 3 • Reply•Share › Avatar JGlackin MO • a month ago Mo-- I knew about the general policy. My friend was outraged that the RC, while surrounded by the Waffen SS, was charging soldiers they were depending on to keep them from becoming POWs, or worse. Over the years it seems the biggest charity/response groups like RC and the Cancer Society become more of an industry and less of a charity service. 'It is impossible, however, to determine when those dollars were distributed, because in its reporting the organization combines funds that have been either 'spent' or 'committed.' 'Committed' funds are usually parceled out to a grantee over time, which means the dollar amount indicated is not necessarily put to work to help victims immediately. The Red Cross declined to provide Pro Publica with a breakdown of the 'spent or committed' funds over time. Doug White, who teaches board governance, ethics, and fundraising at Columbia University's Master of Science in Fundraising Management program, said that while a lack of transparency is not uncommon among charities, the Red Cross stands out because of the scale of its operations and the predominant role it plays in domestic disaster relief efforts. 'The Red Cross,' said White, 'is too big and too important to be allowed to be this secretive.' http://philanthropynewsdigest.... 4/16/14 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar MO JGlackin • a month ago http://wnyfingerlakesredcrossb... is what i have. I am not an archivist, and I am not a forensic accountant. • Reply•Share › Avatar cm smtih MO • a month ago Yet somehow, the Salvation Army gave them away, according to my dad. 84th Inf. 1 • Reply•Share › Avatar former 6 figure employee • a month ago I joined the Red Cross from the private sector as a director level employee in the New York City area and at NHQ (National HQ). I saw firsthand the mismanagement of the money and personell entrusted to the Red Cross. They do not value their volunteers. Much of the money donated for 9/11 relief was funneled to government agencies or to administrative uses within the organization under the guise of 'disaster preparedness'. I used to think highly of this organization which is why I joined them. I could not stay knowing how they treat the people and funds under their management. I no longer donate to them, and I strongly urge you all not to donate, your money will either be wasted or used to fund the six figure salaries of the employees who have no accountability for their decisions. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar proud supporter of Red Cross former 6 figure employee • 23 days ago I am absolutely amazed that you could post this. You should be ashamed. Having been a volunteer and an employee, I know first hand how much volunteers are appreciated. You obviously did not leave on your own, and better yet, you are now gone. The American Red Cross is better off without someone like you. I am sure the next time these volunteers are needed to respond, they will be there for everyone. Thank you God for these wonderful people and for leadership from someone like Gail McGovern. • Reply•Share › Avatar Richard Walden • a month ago It would be great if you do a follow-up starting back in 1988 with the CA Bay Area 'Loma Prieta' quake. That area's mayors all promoted giving exclusively to the Red Cross and $54M was collected. About 18 months later, a local Red Cross official innocently bragged to a SF Chronicle reporter that the Red Cross had spent $18M on the disaster response. What followed was a classic Red Cross meltdown leading to the area's mayors threatening to go to the National League of Cities (the Mayors' nat'l organization) and never again urge promoting giving to the ARC. The ARC was forced to bring back $26M to the Bay Area for joint distribution with the area's mayors for health, housing and homelessness programs..but .keeping $10M for an imaginary disaster preparedness program for Northern CA. The ARC national president was fired....the first in a long chain of presidential firings. Follow thru that to 9/11, Katrina, Isaac, Haiti, the SE Asian Tsunami of 2004, China's Sichuan quake, the Japan quake and tsunami and a clear pattern emerges. One thread for the past decade has been the Red Cross' Chairwoman, Bonnie McElween Hunter, George W. Bush's Ambassador to Finland before assuming her post as Red Cross Chair. Hunter, a rabid Republican, maintains an office at ARC headquarters and the senior staff fear her far more than the revolving door of overpaid CEOs. A Pulitzer awaits anyone who pulls this together. 2 • Reply•Share › Avatar Peter N Milligan • a month ago Comically, there's a donate button at the top of this page too. 8 • Reply•Share › Load more comments WHAT'S THIS? 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