Do You Trust the Red Cross

I was wondering, do you trust the American Red Cross.

The days after 9-11, the Red Cross redirected funds sent in from around the Country and World to help the people affected on September 11th.

It was discovered that the funds went into the Red Cross general fund and was used for all its programs, including the 9/11 fund.

After a major public uproar over the redirection of the 9/11 funds the money was set aside for this use only, now the American Red Cross is asking for donations to assist the Florida hurricane releif, which the Red Cross only wants a cash donation.

I now this organization does great work in times of need, but I want my donation to go where its needed, not to bankroll the organizations day to day operations. Am I being paranoid about my donation being misused again.

john

Since 9/11 and what happened with most of the donations that people out of their hart gave away to various groups I have lost faith on most of these organizations.

These organizations has turn to much into complex entities and now the original purpose to help people has been relegated to the last place in their list of priorities, everybody gets pay first before whatever is left goes to the needy.

In a word, "no". The Red Cross is a huge corporate entity and it's original purpose is often obscured by the intricacies of beaurocracy.
joey

Originally posted by marg6043
Since 9/11 and what happened with most of the donations that people out of their hart gave away to various groups I have lost faith on most of these organizations.

These organizations has turn to much into complex entities and now the original purpose to help people has been relegated to the last place in their list of priorities, everybody gets pay first before whatever is left goes to the needy.

Thats what I want to know alot of money was given for relief but I never heard where any of it went.

Does anyone else know that the Red Cross sells the blood that they ask you to give out of your own kindness?Hope y'all dont think they just give this blood to hospitals and blood banks..The amount they sell each pint for depends on the blood type...More rare types have a higher price....

So next time you hear of a blood shortage just remember that the Red Croos is probably low on funds

Guys I worked as a volunteer for the Red Cross for 2 years. There is nothing sinister about the Red Cross. They are just incompetent like every other bureaucratic organization. The Red Cross is run by a handful of underpaid workers and the rest are tons of volunteers like you and me. People make mistakes.

EDIT and FYI: The Red Cross doesn't sell blood to make a profit. They are a nonprofit organization. It costs money to collect, store and test the blood that gets donated.


[edit on 9-9-2004 by zerotime]

Originally posted by zerotime.
EDIT and FYI: The Red Cross doesn't sell blood to make a profit. They are a nonprofit organization. It costs money to collect, store and test the blood that gets donated.
[edit on 9-9-2004 by zerotime]

Not saying that they are sinister I'm saying that they sell the blood that they ask you to just give freely...Now if you donate blood plasma you are paid...why not for youre blood?

The Red Cross is an organization without a soul. I do not contribute to the organization with either my money or my blood. I donate directly to the two local hospitals in my town, where I know how it is used.

If you really want to get an idea of how self-serving the Red Cross is - read Randy Shilt's book - And the Band Played On. The Red Cross refused to test the blood they were receiving for HIV using the Hepititis B test. The reason - not cost effective. Thousands received tainted blood before the Feds mandated testing.

after reading Bleys post I take back the not being sinister thing

Blood plasma is not the same as donating blood. A fewer precentage of people qualify to donate plasma. It's callled plasmapheresis. When the blood is being taken out of the body the plasma is seperated in a centrifuge. This plasma is then taken and used in medical products that are sold directly to consumers. That's why people who give plasma are paid.

Blood on the other hand is given to whoever needs it for the charged amount that it costs to collect, store, and test the blood. The organization has to charge to cover these costs otherwise they are running in the red. something like 60 to 80% of blood collected ends up being thrown out because it only has a shelf life of 6 weeks.

The AIDS period in the early 80s was a sad mistake. But it wasn't only the Red Cross. It was medical experts all over the world that didn't even believe that AIDS was real or in the blood. And of course there was cost issues. What part of medicine today isn't still effected by cost issues? You are fooling yourself if you think a local hospital handles blood any better. My wife is a nurse. I can tell some great hospital horror stories.





[edit on 9-9-2004 by zerotime]

My husband is a frequent donor it is something he has done since he was active duty and now working in a military base he likes to keep donating blood every year. Because of the testing active soldiers have to do the red cross likes to encourage the soldiers to donate blood.

I have never donated blood before and I am not to start anytime soon.

I remember the problem and the scandal from the blood been tainted, I did a lot of damage.

Originally posted by Simon_Boudreaux
Does anyone else know that the Red Cross sells the blood that they ask you to give out of your own kindness?Hope y'all dont think they just give this blood to hospitals and blood banks..The amount they sell each pint for depends on the blood type...More rare types have a higher price....

So next time you hear of a blood shortage just remember that the Red Croos is probably low on funds

Hey guys, I currently work for the Red Cross, and like zerotime said, it does cost money to test and process blood and blood products. And the reason you "Can" sometimes get money for Plasma is because you can donate every 2 weeks, and it doesn't pose a health risk to donate frequently. Where as Blood, you can only give every 56 days.

Now, as for the Blood that the Red Cross "Sells" ALL blood banks and i mean ALL of them SELL their stock to hospitals, not just the Red Cross..
And the very slim proceeds from said sales, help to fund the other branches ( Disaster Relief ) and so on... aside from that, ARC Blood services and Disaster Relief Services, and other branches are COMPLETLY seperate entities.

Also, just so you'll know, it is ILLEGAL to pay someone to donate whole blood....




[edit on 9-9-2004 by thethrall_nb]