How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti *and Built Six Homes

[Subyman]

9 Billion dollars pledged to help Haiti - That works out to almost $1000 per person in Haiti where the average annual per capita income is $345. Egads. If someone handed me and my wife each, in cash, 3 times our annual income, I think I would be able to weather just about any natural disaster that could strike my home.

Not if there isn't any infrastructure in which to spend that money. The people needed pallets of food, water, and medicine flown in, not fistfuls of cash.

I'm playing devils advocate here. :whiste:

 

[EOM]

Only thing they get from me is a blood donation maybe once a year....

 

[shortylickens]

The Red Cross is a giant scam and has been for years. They were dumped from the Combined Federal Campaign because their administration costs were well over the 20 percent maximum. The Red Cross was one of a couple rich groups that lobbied congress to get an exception to the rule so they could be on the CFC.

They spend way more money convincing people they are a charity than actually performing charitable work.

You see those big Red Cross vans sitting all over the place?
Those arent emergency vehicles. Those are mobile billboards.

 

[FerrelGeek]

Churches probably helped more people in Haiti than the Red Cross.

I already mentioned Samaritan's Purse, which gets much of its funding from churches and private donations.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Props to you, sir!!

Yeah, orgs like Red Cross, Unicef, United Way, Good Will are horrible. I know a lot on here are seriously anit anything that smacks of Christian, but Samaritan's Purse does a fantastic job and runs at a very efficient rate. During that disaster in Haiti, they were down there within a couple days setting up shelter, providing medical relief, and food while the main line charities and our government were still moaning about the situation.

Whats wrong with Good Will?

You donate shit you don't need. They turn around and sell it at a huge discount to the poor (or thrifty shopping folk), and they employ people for doing said transactions.

Good will has always sounded like a win-win to me based simply upon "SHIT YOU DONT USE"

 

[MongGrel]

They did the one on NPR about one of the Cancer Societies were doing something similar and how he and his whole family and a lot of relatives were involved in it for years living off donations.

Going Jet Skying, vacations to Disneyworld, large salaries, etc, etc since 1987.

I forget the one in particular off hand.

 

[MongGrel]

These guys, at any rate.

Feds Say High-Profile Cancer Foundation Was A Fraud

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/05/20/cancer-foundation-fraud

Must have been Terry Gross by the voice.

There are three links to watchdogs there.

 

[dullard]

Good will has always sounded like a win-win to me

Exactly, but most people don't understand the point of Goodwill.

1) You get rid of clutter.
2) You probably get a tax deduction.
3) Those that are minimally employable (or often fully unemployable due to mental illness) get jobs and skills. Even if they pay crap wages, these people still have a sense of self-worth and get off of government babysitting for those hours they do work (saves government money, more than the money the government gives you in tax deductions).
4) The people who shop there get decent deals (may help the poor).

It is a win all around for everyone. That is, except those on the government payroll to take care of the mentally ill. They have less work and less income because they have fewer mentally ill people to take care of.

 

[JSt0rm]

That is, except those on the government payroll to take care of the mentally ill. They have less work and less income because they have fewer mentally ill people to take care of.

Yup. Those evil people who take care of mentally ill people for big profits. Just another leech on our freedumbs.

 

[Slew Foot]

Everyones got their hands in the pie. Health insurance, education, charity, people see a bunch of money, they feel the need to stick their nose in it.

 

[maluckey]

of course the haters will hate this one....

try on Catholic Charities USA. One of the highest rated, and is very large. Blows away the Red Cross and it's various incarnations. Far more useful at the grassroots level than most.


M.

 

[werepossum]

Genx87, that was a really damning article on NPR yesterday. I think that you'll be most horrified that they recently ended up giving tens of millions to the US government to do the work since this private entity couldn't handle it.

Our charity system is very screwed up at the moment. I have never donated to a cause like that and never will. Instead, I put my donations to a use that I have control over. For one example: once a month, I personally buy food, cook for, and feed 80-150 people a healthy and delicious dinner (anyone is welcome, although we focus on the working poor who can't make ends meet). Overhead? The cost of my gas to go to the store and to drive to the charity (and I pay for that gas).

These national charities take a cut, pass it down to another charity that takes a cut, who pass it down to another charity who take a cut etc. What actually goes to the needy is so very little. The United Way is a great example. Their sole purpose is to take a cut and pass the money on to other charities, they do absolutely nothing for the causes. Why donate to the United Way when you can just donate directly to the charity that you want without the United Way overhead?

I salute you, sir. That is a wonderful thing.

I donate to the United Way because of a local political situation, but I will say this for them - the local United Way got some rich people to set up a fund to pay all their expenses, which are legitimate. (They can't all be volunteers, they need offices, they need electricity, etc.) So in Chattanooga TN, every penny donated to United Way goes to an area charity or not-for-profit.

9 Billion dollars pledged to help Haiti - That works out to almost $1000 per person in Haiti where the average annual per capita income is $345. Egads. If someone handed me and my wife each, in cash, 3 times our annual income, I think I would be able to weather just about any natural disaster that could strike my home.

You'd think. Or maybe spend 1/3 on immediately relief (food, water, shelter) so that people don't spend that money on getting those things at greatly inflated prices and give twice the average income to each Haitian.

This. Local places that help the poor. Wife runs a non profit that provides all kinds of services for pregnant women and little kids. Parenting, nutrition, life skills classes. Mentoring for the fathers. It's rare that the office isn't struggling financially but they make it work.

Friend of the wife's worked for the Red Cross 20+ years ago. Quit because of the excessive amount of $$ blown by his superiors. Dinners, drinks, etc.

I had the same experience with a local office of a major charity (I won't name it because I used to respect it and this may be uncharacteristic) which had offices in our building. Few times I got called down there for computer issues and I was struck by the cases and cases of very expensive booze and the pictures (some of them fairly risque pictures of women who had been pushed or jumped into swimming pools) of their opulent parties. Eventually a donor complained (about the risque pictures, not the two hundred dollar lunches or three hundred dollar cases of liquor - go figure) and the couple running it were fired and replaced with a dour old bat. They did not renew their lease.

I will say that Salvation Army, Goodwill and Catholic Charities are still excellent among the big charities. Ditto with the Mormon charities which are mostly funded by members (though they will take donations, they just don't solicit them) and are open to anyone of any or no faith.

 

[MongGrel]

I'm pretty much a lapsed Lutheran myself but they have some pretty good charities also.

"Damned you Catholics and your unholy Icons"

I'm just teasing a bit, I'm married to a lapsed Italian Roman Catholic.

:biggrin:

 

[squirrel dog]

I house built in Haiti should look like a German gun emplacement like the ones used on Omaha beach . Not a particle board lean to that delaminate in a light rain . Should use cinder blocks filled with concrete and rebar . Blown liquid foam insulation , what I saw looks like a boy scout troop on a lark , build some shacks . The amount of money wasted is horrible .

 

[FerrelGeek]

Whats wrong with Good Will?

You donate shit you don't need. They turn around and sell it at a huge discount to the poor (or thrifty shopping folk), and they employ people for doing said transactions.

Good will has always sounded like a win-win to me based simply upon "SHIT YOU DONT USE"

I was referring to groups that have a global impact. Goodwill still has it's issues, but still may be better than some. I'd rather donate my stuff to Amvets; afaik, they're a good outfit and they serve those that have served our country.

 

[davmat787]

i've been hesitant to donate to Red Cross for years.

What are charities you guys donate to now where the money isn't going to its wealthy executives?

The Human Fund is my charity of choice.

 

[Victorian Gray]

And the Red Cross responds:

(the summation)

"The Red Cross reports annually how we spend donor dollars on our website and break it down according to sector. We raised $488 million for our work in Haiti and here is how our spent and committed funds have been allocated:

Emergency relief: $66 million
Shelter: $173 million
Health: $73 million
Water and sanitation: $47 million
Livelihoods: $48 million
Disaster preparedness: $56 million
Cholera prevention: $25 million"


http://www.redcross.org/news/article/The-Real-Story-of-the-6-Homes-Answering-Questions-about-Haiti

 

[unokitty]

‘Where’s the $500 mn?’ Red Cross promises houses for 130,000 Haitians, ’builds only 6’

When a devastating earthquake struck the Western hemisphere’s poorest country in 2010, the American Red Cross was one of the organizations at the forefront of the humanitarian effort to rebuild it a year later, launching a multi-million-dollar effort.

The main program – LAMIKA (a Creole acronym for ‘A Better Life in My Neighborhood&#8217 – was to build hundreds of permanent homes to house some 130,000 people living in abject poverty after the quake.

Now, in 2015, the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Campeche is as dilapidated as ever, with hardly any new buildings, trash strewn around, animals walking the streets, and people enduring sub-standard conditions in self-made shacks.

“Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water,” ...

An investigation by NPR and ProPublica gained access to “confidential memos, emails from worried top officers, and accounts of a dozen frustrated and disappointed insiders” familiar with how the NGO broke its promises, misspent millions of dollars, and then issued self-congratulatory progress statements...

According to the report, the NGO displayed an arrogant attitude to national staff – some of the very few people who could speak French and the local Creole... This led to poor communication with the local population and, ultimately, to the failure of the outreach project.

“Going to meetings with the community when you don’t speak the language is not productive,” one Haitian who worked on the project...

“A lot of money was spent on those people who were not Haitian, who had nothing to do with Haiti. The money was just going back to the United States,” one Haitian who coordinated expat housing for the Red Cross confessed.

At the same time, Red Cross officials focused more on programs which would generate good publicity than those providing the most homes...

The organization claimed that it had helped 4.5 million Haitians, but according to reporters “there is reason to doubt” that.

Asked if there was any truth to the Red Cross’s claims, Haiti’s Prime Minister didn’t seem to know how the numbers could add up: “No, no… it’s not possible,” Jean-Max Bellerive said, stressing that the country’s entire population is only about 10 million.

“What the Red Cross told us is that they are coming here to change Campeche. Totally change it,” the report cites Jean Flaubert, the head of a community group set up by the Red Cross, as saying. “Now I do not understand the change that they are talking about. I think the Red Cross is working for themselves.”

... The Haiti earthquake was touted as “a spectacular fundraising opportunity” within the organization, according to one former official involved with the program.

For the people of Haiti, the earthquake was a disaster. For the American Red Cross, it was a "spectacular fundraising opportunity."

For people with the right political connections to the American Red Cross, plenty of subcontracting money.

For the people of Haiti, not so much...

Uno

 

[werepossum]

I'm pretty much a lapsed Lutheran myself but they have some pretty good charities also.

"Damned you Catholics and your unholy Icons"

I'm just teasing a bit, I'm married to a lapsed Italian Roman Catholic.

:biggrin:

lol I'm not a Catholic, although my daughter-in-law and by extension my youngest grandson - although I don't think he knows that. I'm just saying they have a well-run charity program. The Lutheran Church does as well, plus an excellent investment fund. Note that I'm not Lutheran either - or Mormon. Just a non-observant roughly Protestant believer who was raised in a cult. (Baptists - we believe in holding people under water until they come 'round to our way of thinking, and pretending we don't see each other in the liquor store.)

And the Red Cross responds:

(the summation)

"The Red Cross reports annually how we spend donor dollars on our website and break it down according to sector. We raised $488 million for our work in Haiti and here is how our spent and committed funds have been allocated:

Emergency relief: $66 million
Shelter: $173 million
Health: $73 million
Water and sanitation: $47 million
Livelihoods: $48 million
Disaster preparedness: $56 million
Cholera prevention: $25 million"


http://www.redcross.org/news/article/The-Real-Story-of-the-6-Homes-Answering-Questions-about-Haiti

Explained, that would be:
Emergency relief: $66 million (the requests that didn't get funded on the last few budgets)
Shelter: $173 million (sheltering donations)
Health: $73 million (Red Cross employees' health insurance)
Water and sanitation: $47 million (Red Cross needed offices with more/nicer bathrooms)
Livelihoods: $48 million (Red Cross employees' livelihoods - bonuses!)
Disaster preparedness: $56 million (Money saved for the next disaster's advertising campaign)
Cholera prevention: $25 million (Shots - both injections and liquor - to prepare us to go into Haiti)

 

[Victorian Gray]

lol I'm not a Catholic, although my daughter-in-law and by extension my youngest grandson - although I don't think he knows that. I'm just saying they have a well-run charity program. The Lutheran Church does as well, plus an excellent investment fund. Note that I'm not Lutheran either - or Mormon. Just a non-observant roughly Protestant believer who was raised in a cult. (Baptists - we believe in holding people under water until they come 'round to our way of thinking, and pretending we don't see each other in the liquor store.)


Explained, that would be:
Emergency relief: $66 million (the requests that didn't get funded on the last few budgets)
Shelter: $173 million (sheltering donations)
Health: $73 million (Red Cross employees' health insurance)
Water and sanitation: $47 million (Red Cross needed offices with more/nicer bathrooms)
Livelihoods: $48 million (Red Cross employees' livelihoods - bonuses!)
Disaster preparedness: $56 million (Money saved for the next disaster's advertising campaign)
Cholera prevention: $25 million (Shots - both injections and liquor - to prepare us to go into Haiti)

I'm sorry to say that actually wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Apparently the Red Cross up here was more successful

"The Canadian Red Cross, which collected $222 million in donations, said it was able to put $65 million toward the construction of 7,500 new homes.
Some of its press materials have previously referred to the structures as “shelters,” but spokesman Nathan Huculak said they are all considered “permanent homes.”

The agency concentrated its home-building efforts in the coastal communities of Jacmel and Leogane, 30 to 40 kilometres from the capital, Huculak said. It worked with architects and engineers to design the 18-square-metre homes so they could withstand earthquakes and hurricanes but also so they could be disassembled and moved easily, since many families do not own land.

They were built with wood frames and corrugated tin roofs using local construction teams trained by the Red Cross. While the homes are not equipped with plumbing, Huculak said they are similar to traditional Haitian homes in those areas.

Families were provided with paperwork to prove the homes belonged to them, as well as padlocks and toolkits to do repairs."

This might be the telling point:

Asked how the Canadian agency was able to build so many homes when its U.S. counterpart was not, Huculak declined to speculate.

“Our approach has always been one to collaborate and work with local authorities … all the relevant players to work through challenges,” he said. “We’re very proud of the accomplishments achieved in Haiti.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...-red-cross-of-bungling-500m-after-haiti-quake

Examples of the homes built:

and a bit more info

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/haiti-...-well-spent-canadian-red-cross-says-1.3102228

 

[werepossum]

I'm sorry to say that actually wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Apparently the Red Cross up here was more successful

"The Canadian Red Cross, which collected $222 million in donations, said it was able to put $65 million toward the construction of 7,500 new homes.
Some of its press materials have previously referred to the structures as “shelters,” but spokesman Nathan Huculak said they are all considered “permanent homes.”

The agency concentrated its home-building efforts in the coastal communities of Jacmel and Leogane, 30 to 40 kilometres from the capital, Huculak said. It worked with architects and engineers to design the 18-square-metre homes so they could withstand earthquakes and hurricanes but also so they could be disassembled and moved easily, since many families do not own land.

They were built with wood frames and corrugated tin roofs using local construction teams trained by the Red Cross. While the homes are not equipped with plumbing, Huculak said they are similar to traditional Haitian homes in those areas.

Families were provided with paperwork to prove the homes belonged to them, as well as padlocks and toolkits to do repairs."

This might be the telling point:

Asked how the Canadian agency was able to build so many homes when its U.S. counterpart was not, Huculak declined to speculate.

“Our approach has always been one to collaborate and work with local authorities … all the relevant players to work through challenges,” he said. “We’re very proud of the accomplishments achieved in Haiti.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...-red-cross-of-bungling-500m-after-haiti-quake

Examples of the homes built:

and a bit more info

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/haiti-...-well-spent-canadian-red-cross-says-1.3102228

For a rich nation coming into a very poor nation at such a time, those aren't bad for ~$8700.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I could have easily predicted that donations to Haiti would do little to help the Haitians. They were deeply impoverished and dysfunctional before, so there was no reason to believe that investing money in Haiti would help matters.

Unfortunately, they have a fundamental Malthusian problem of having far too many people (probably kept alive by outside aid) on a small amount of land that can only support a fraction of the people currently on it.

 

[Thump553]

Here are some good ones...

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3628#.VXCcnWDQe70

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3417#.VXCdLGDQe70

Extremely useful post, and great site you linked to. I'm glad to see Doctors Without Borders so highly rated-I personally think they are one of the most efficient non-church charities.

I donate blood regularly through the Red Cross (over 50 pints) but since I volunteered for them as a teen decades ago I always swore never to give them a dime. Way too much waste. What happened in Haiti is certainly no surprise. Most likely the same thing is happened now with the Nepal contributions.

 

[shortylickens]

I could have easily predicted that donations to Haiti would do little to help the Haitians. They were deeply impoverished and dysfunctional before, so there was no reason to believe that investing money in Haiti would help matters.

Unfortunately, they have a fundamental Malthusian problem of having far too many people (probably kept alive by outside aid) on a small amount of land that can only support a fraction of the people currently on it.

If they could somehow generate value they'd be able to import the food they need.

But yeah as it stands all the donations do in enable them to reproduce and then have starving children. Thats pointless.
Maybe we should be building schools for them so they contribute to the world economy in 20 years.

 

[norseamd]

You know that huge charity telethon that Obama and all the major TV networks did at the time did seem to me nothing but a massive curated sociological scam.