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November 6, 2001
C.G. Estabrook
Our Torturers
Sheperd
Bliss
Scott
Nearing on War
Rep. Ron Paul
Underwriting
the Taliban
Tariq
Ali
The
General Who
Came to Dinner
Evan Ravitz
Stop the War
Through
Direct Democracy
Steve
Perry
Hunger
in Afghanistan
November 5, 2001
Patrick Cockburn
Living
in the Minefields
David Price
Terror
and Indigenous People
November 3, 2001
Declan McCullagh
Nancy Oden Interview
Daniel
Wolff
The
Memphis Blues Again
Mark Weisbrot
War on Civilians
Dave Marsh
How
the RIAA (and the FBI) Cheat Musicians
Robert Jensen
Speaking
Out Against
War on Campus
November 2, 2001
CounterPunch
Wire
Green
Party Leader Detained at Maine Airport; Prevented from Boarding
Any Plane
Alexander Cockburn
FBI Eyes
Torture
November 1, 2001
Dean Baker
Dying
for Patents
Sami Amarah
US Attempts
to Recruit
Russian Vets of Afghan War
Molly Secours
Where
Are the Voices of Reason? Let the Women
Be Heard
William Blum
Unleashing the
CIA
October 31, 2001
Tom Turnipseed
Terrorize
the Poor,
Subsidize the Rich
Chris Clarke
Thank God
for Berkeley
Steve
Perry
The
Silent Genocide
October 30, 2001
Rep. Ron Paul
War on Terror
Bad as War on Drugs
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Flying
Blind:
The Predator's Problem
Ali Abunimah
Dear Colin
Powell
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The New Intifada:
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November
6, 2001
The American Red Cross Gets Half
a Billion, So Where's the Money Going?
By Mark Scaramella
Over $1.2 billion has been generously donated
via the various large donation programs that were set up by the
big charities in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the
East Coast. But is the money really going to help the victims,
their families and the rescue workers?
Last week Santa Rosa-based KSRO radio
talk show host and CounterPuncher Pat Thurston contacted representatives
of the American Red Cross in Washington DC to discuss the controversy
that's arisen about how they've handled the funds donated for
the families of the victims of the September 11 east coast terrorist
attacks.
Over $500 million has been pledged to
the American Red Cross's "Liberty Fund" so far. Donors
probably assumed that this money would go to help the victims,
their families, and the rescue workers. Of course whenever there's
that much money involved there must be some administration and
checking to make sure programs are effective and that the claims
are valid. "We assumed the money would be divided among
the victims," said Thurston, "that they'd just get
a check. Apparently, that's not the way it works."
Family members of victims have appeared
on tv over the last few weeks telling stories about the difficulties
they've had in getting help from the Red Cross, and to a lesser
extent from other agencies. The President of the Red Cross, Dr.
Bernadine Healy, has resigned in the wake of the controversy
citing differences in "management style -- her governance,"
said a spokesperson. Some people say it was because of misuse
of funds.
Deborah Goldberg, a young woman whose
title is "Development, Communications and Marketing Officer"
for the American Red Cross in Washington DC, told Thurston, "We
feel we've been honest with the public about where the money's
going." Soon after the attacks, the Red Cross established
"The Liberty Fund" to keep the 9/11 money separate
from their other funding. According to the Red Cross's website,
the Liberty Fund is "to help the emerging human needs developing
from this disaster as well as future terrorist attacks."
According to Goldberg this proves that the Red Cross has "always
been very honest with the public about where the money's going."
"Tens of millions went to help the
disaster relief workers," asserted Ms. Goldberg. "and
$190-$200 million is going to immediate disaster relief, which
includes food, shelter, mental health counseling... it includes
things like that." "What about community outreach?"
asked Thurston, at which point an older woman came on line on
a speaker phone unannounced. "This is Debbie Daily,"
she said. "I'm the Senior Director of Communications and
Marketing and I thought I would join the call if that's OK because
I have an extensive background in community outreach. I have
24 years in the organization. We have a dual program in different
communities throughout the nation, where we teach children in
schools now about terrorist attacks and what they can do. We
also have community outreach programs on preparing for terrorist
attacks and weapons of mass destruction. We actually created
an Anthrax brochure so people would have the best source of information
about what to do with those terrorist activities. We're doing
a lot of grief and healing counseling. We've actually opened
an 866 hotline and many of our chapters are using that as a model
in their own communities, in places like Boston, where, you know,
some of the airlines we're commuting from... we're doing outreach
programs that help to deal with those family members that are
in that community. ... The person in Tennessee who's also feeling
the emotions of these terrorist attacks -- their needs are also
being met. We've been very clear from Day One. The relief we
provide takes many categories. We have experience from Oklahoma
City, from the San Francisco earthquake. We know that people...
that type of trauma does not go away. We're still serving the
needs in Oklahoma city, the people that have been affected from
that tragedy. So we try to make it very clear to donors that
when you give to the American Red Cross so we can respond to
this disaster in all the appropriate ways."
"The Washington Post says that out
of the amount collected, about $400million, out of that only
$44 million has been distributed to more than 2200affected families,"
noted Thurston.
An indignant Daily replied, "We
have to get our facts and figures straight and recognize the
chaos that is at ground zero. We have spent more than $140 million
on disaster relief -- free respite centers throughout the New
York City area where people can come and be comforted by Red
Cross volunteers. We are providing food and refreshments for
all the workers. We have personally contacted families who would
say that the Red Cross is an incredible agency with a history
of 120 years of service and that they were there the minute this
thing happened. So I think it's important to get our facts and
figures straight. The Red Cross has spent $140 million. We've
committed over $300 million and we are looking at other ways
we can provide additional service such as, you know, it's only
a couple, several weeks after the terrorist-- that we learned
we have an anthrax..., anthrax... um, terrorism threat. So we're
actually providing support to the victims of that threat right
now. We're doing public education and disaster preparedness to
make sure that that threat doesn't become something like September
11th."
"Are those efforts addressed at
anthrax coming out of money 866 compassion hot line so that
people across the country... the young parent in Tennessee whose
daughter is waking up every night filled with nightmares calls
us and says, How can you help me get her through this difficult
time? And we get a mental health counselor to talk to that parent
and give him strategies on how to make sure that his young child
gets through this traumatic time. So yes, we're giving the most
to direct assistance, to the people that were physically affected,
but everybody in this country has also been affected. It would
not be prudent for the American Red Cross not to make sure that
we are prepared if, heaven forbid, that this happens someplace
else, or that we didn't take care of the needs of the person
in Los Angeles that is also having affects from this terrible
tragedy.
"But are your efforts concerned
with the anthrax threat being funded through the Liberty Fund?"
persisted Thurston.
"Yes," Daily finally replied.
"They are being funded through the Liberty Fund. Many of
our donors see anthrax as another terrorist attack and as a,
you know, as a threat. We are seeing lots of emerging needs coming
from this whole effort. It was an event in our history that nobody
has been able to comprehend. Now luckily the American Red Cross
has experience through the Oklahoma City bombing, through the
San Francisco earthquake... we know there are going to be additional
needs that are going to come out of this situation. We want to
work with other agencies to make sure that all the needs of the
victims are being met. We have enough money in the pipeline to
make sure we can meet the humanitarian needs of the people coming
out of this tragedy. Certainly there have been some public service
advertising and things that might be on the television, but we
have contacted all of our, uh, different places that we might
have advertising and we've instructed all of our field offices
to be proactive in soliciting funds. "Mr. Becker, who
is our interim chief executive officer, is a wonderful man who
has many years of experience. He is an attorney, and we're really
excited to have him in a leadership role and I think that was
important, and the board of governors is involved in figuring
out the different ways that we should be spending any additional
money that we might get over the$300-and-some million that we've
already committed."
Thurston then asked, "What about
helping the Red Cross facility in Afghanistan that was bombed
-- twice -- to help them rebuild and replenish their supplies?"
Dodging and missing the point again,
Ms. Daily replied, "What's very important is, the Red Cross,
from a financial stewardship point of view, is very careful to
make sure that, that our funding is specific to the activity,
and that the Liberty Fund was not created, um, to help the Afghan
Children's Fund. That was a special fund that was created by
our President of the United States. What he chose to do is make
the American Red Cross the conduit of those funds. We already
had programs in Afghanistan. We have feeding programs and other
relief programs in Afghanistan so we were a natural conduit for
those funds. So the dollars that kids are giving allover the
country are basically going to the White House and then those
funds are basically being calculated, the acknowledgement is
being given to the kids. And then that money is going to our
international response effort. ...I hope everyone remembers that
the American Red Cross is in their community very day, 24 hours
a day, even above and beyond this disaster. And together we can
save a life."
Thurston wasn't impressed by the Red
Cross representatives. "I'm still disturbed by this, and
I think a lot of people probably are," said Thurston. "The
Red Cross in recent weeks has been airing tv ads with images
of Manhattan, and they're asking for money and the ads may not
specifically say that all the money is going to the WTC victims.
But the ads imply that. And when the intention is that only a
portion of the $500 million-plus dollars to the families, I think
that should have been abundantly clear. Less than10% of the money
pledged to the Liberty Fund has actually gone to the families
of the victims. I have a hard time accepting that the people
making the donations expected that it would only be 10 cents
on the dollar going to the victims' families. There are family
members of victims who have not gotten any help and there are
some who are not going to go and ask for assistance even though
people made donations so that they could be helped and there
wouldn't be as bad a financial hardship on them, after losing
a family member, after all the grief that they're suffering.
I feel that people were taken advantage of. I don't like feeling
that way because I support the American Red Cross. They do excellent
work. They may well have been overwhelmed by the amount of money
that came in. I don't like to think that there was some gleeful
administrator there somewhere who went, 'Ooooh. Look at all this
money. Now we can fix this and this and this. Now we can go do
all these outreach programs we've always wanted to do.' If that's
what happened, it sickens me. ... If I specifically want the
money to go to the families, by God I want the money to go to
the families! If you have to take5% out to do administration,
OK. But the bulk of my dollars is what I want to go to the families,
not just 10 cents of it. ...
"Isn't it just a shame that non-profits
are established that are supposed to do good but in fact are
just scams to support the people who are running them? And there
are. Now I'm not saying that that's the Red Cross --don't confuse
these things. They gave an explanation for what they were doing
with the money. I'm not satisfied with that explanation, but
a lot of people are. Frankly, I think they duped people. I think
the American Red Cross does a lot of good, but I'd think twice
about making a contribution to them again when the money I send
in is supposed to be specifically earmarked for something or
someone who has met with tragedy and the Red Cross is involved
with it. I want to make sure that the maximum amount of money
goes to the victims. And if they want to hire mental health professionals,
leave it up to them." CP
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