Redstate

We are not able to even get in touch with many in our family right now. This storm, in terms of water damage, is much worse than Hurrican Camille and its winds along the Mississippi gulf coast region were not far behind.

The flooding in New Orleans will be the worst urban flooding in American history.

The need is real and the timing is urgent.

Please consider directing people to alternative organizations instead, as the Red Cross has a history of collecting money "for victims" and using it for other things, as they did with 9/11 to improve their communications systems.

You mean, like the communications systems which allow it to organize food and shelter for hundreds of thousands of displaced people? Please don't denigrate the Red Cross at time like this while it has hundreds if not thousands of volunteers going into very unpleasant places helping people during the very worst times of their lives. They make a tremendous difference in the lives of those most devastated by this damage.

disaster relief program.  

http://www.namb.net/site/c.9qKILUOzEpH/b.224451/k.7BDB/Disaster_Relief_Home
page.htm

A friend of ours is traveling down from NH within the next day to help with the effort.

The decision to upgrade the communications system with money that should have been given to the victims and their families was not made by volunteers.  I give full credit to those who are volunteering in a variety of ways to help the displaced former residents of New Orleans.

Upgrading communications systems is necessary, sure, but it shouldn't have been done with money that was given to go directly to the victims and their families.  If they wanted to raise money for upgrading communications, they should have raised it separately.

Without good communications, the RC is not effective. This is not the time for petty and uninformed hindsight assessments. The RC will get my money with my complete confidence based on their decades of effective service. You? Who aer you to say anything?

I'm a relative of a woman who lost her husband and four fatherless children who had to struggle financially through the months after 9/11 until the government came through.  Countless people showered them with generousity, but there was no steady source of income for months, during which time the Red Cross was using this money to do something that could have been done with money intended for that purpose rather than money intended to go to that family.

That's who I am.

I see that you have family in NO.  Obviously your aunt will have to rebuild or move altogether.  Trust me, money given directly to her, or to relief organizations other than the Red Cross, would go much further than money given to the Red Cross.  Drop me an e-mail with her information and I'd be happy to send a donation.

I'm sorry for your relative who suffered so much. But it takes all kinds of help to survive a disaster. Long term help is needed,, and Hugh Hewitt is promoting an organization called Samaritan's Purse which provides longer-term help.

But that long term help won't do you any good if you don't survive the first few days after the disaster. If you don't get food or water or shelter for a week, your survival outlook is not good. All kinds of different help is needed after a disaster.

My point is that you don't need to disparage any one of them. You could have just reminded everybody that the survivors will need middle- and long-term help, and suggested other organizations. The Red Cross provides valuable, life-saving assistance to disaster victims every day. You don't need to disparage them to promote others.

that the Red Cross upgraded its communication systems.  I understand full well that organizations have to function and that there is always overhead involved.  My point is that they used money raised under different pretences.  They could have had a separate fundraising effort to raise funds for upgrading their communications system rather than saying that they were raising money for the victims and proceeding to use it for other purposes.  If I were to go around collecting money for a local crisis pregnancy center and then gave it to Feed the Children, I would think that the people who contributed would have a major problem with that.  Would Feed the Children be an unworthy recipient?  I don't think so (though I'm willing to be educated by those who are aware of serious problems with it), but I would have collected the money under false pretences.  That's the problem.

The family struggled until the largesse of the United States tax payer kicked in and gave an average of something on the order of several hundreds of thousands of dollars tax free.

And as you pointed out, countless people showered them generously along the way.

But the RC is at fault for buying communications equipment instead of not showering them with even more?

And you did what to help your relative personally?

With all respect to the loss your relative experienced, you sound a bit out of balance.

They did not give the money to another cause. They gave the money to the families, and wisely used part of the money to see to it that in the future the RC would be in a better position to respond.

That you are even arguing this, the day after what is rapidly turning into the largest natural disaster in American history is frankly bizarre.

You have no idea, nor have I attempted to talk about, what I did for them.  Incidentally, if you resent the US taxpayer giving them funding, could you please tell me exactly what price you'd accept for the murder of your father?  Please be precise in dollars and cents.

Back about a decade ago I worked with a man (Kevin Lee) whose brother was involved with the Mississippi Flooding in Missouri/ Southern Illinois. The brother watched (and volumteered to help out  as he was there anyway) the Salvation Army set up and give stuff out. When the Red Cross later arrived in a much more capable caravan, they insisted upon the exact location the SA trucks were. Nothing else would do. Since they had more supplies, and the purpose (suposedly) was to get supplies to the people in the area, the SA preople packed up and moved aside. About the time the Red cross was set up, the National network news program trucks came by guided by LEOs in a caravan of their own to document the work needed and being done there. The SA trucks were not set up yet, so the NBC abd CBS networks documented the excellent work done by the Red Cross. As the cameras stopped, so did the handouts. Packing everything back in the trucks, including the partial case goods brought out to separate into variety bundles as the locals still waiting in line to get aid watched with shock. By the time the SA people were set up the Red Cross people were consulting a map to find out approximate travel times and itinerary for the news caravan so that they could "leapfrog" them and get back out in front to have the same caravan appear to be in another spot with the Wonderful Red Cross everywhere and nobody else effective (so give generously to the only outfit actually helping the victims of the Mississippi Flooding; This message brought to you by the Red Cross).The SA crew did set back up and passed out emergency supplies until everyone who had come had gotten some. Everyone there was reportedly pretty pissed at the Red Cross and the PR only visit.

Look at the tables available. Given the small headcount of full time employees, the Salvation Army is usually a full 10% better than anyone else  re: donations/aid offered year in/ year out. The Red Cross barely makes the top third (when they make the top half at all)

If you want your donations to benefit the Katrina victims, it would be hard to do better than the Salvation Army, and not hard at all to do better than the American Red Cross.

No, you only spoke about the inconvenience of not getting as much money from the RC's charity as you thought they should have received.

I am not aware that murder has a going price, by the way. Perhaps you can give some insights on that?

Perhaps you should read up on what the purpose of insurance is.

I want to thank Rush Limbaugh for turning me onto RedState.  A great site.  Lots to read and learn.  Would never have heard about it unless Rush mentioned it.