My father-in-law (a WWII combat vet) claimed that during WWII the Red Cross charged the enlisted men for the coffee and donuts but gave them to the officers for free. He never gave a dime to the Red Cross.
Also, there was somewhat of a scandal involving the way the Red Cross used the money collected after 9-11. Essentially, they were not entirely up front about how they were using the money when, in fact, they were filling their coffers.
Actually the Red Cross’s selling of things to soldiers did not end with WWII, unfortunately. My man was injured in Viet Nam and on a transport plane coming home he had a layover in Alaska. He was lying on a cot in a big open transport plane with the wind whistling around him, and various needles etc (he was run over by a tank), and the red cross came and offered to sell (SELL) him a nice ice cold 7-up. We don’t give to them either.
There’s also the matter of Israel. Because Arabic countries have the Red Crescent, and Iran (pre-Revolution) was allowed the Red Lion, Israel would like to have their own version of the Red Cross with a red Star of David (the “Magen David”). The Red Cross refuses, and they haven’t really given forth a good answer on why Israel wouldn’t be allowed a Red Star of David that wouldn’t equally apply to the Red Crescent, which has left the Red Cross open to charges of anti-semitism.
Oh, and in regards to the Red Cross after 9-11:
I dislike them because, after I donated blood through them once when I was in college, I started getting phone calls from them several times per week, even after I told them to stop calling. It pretty much comes down to my not wanting to deal with organizations that use my generosity to annoy me.
This is a big problem with almost all charitable organizations. When ever I donate anything I try and avoid giving out my phone number. Blood donations hoever hald a lot more regulation associated with them I am beleive you are re
Regarding the Liberty Fund, I posted something about that post-tsunami.
Regarding the Magen David Adom, the ICRC does have a good reason on the Magen David Adom issue. Two of them, really. The ICRC isn’t supposed to be a religious organization - neutrality, impartiality, and universality comprise three of the seven fundamental principles. Most importantly, however, in conflict areas it’s pretty important that the symbol be immediately and easily seen. A multitude of symbolic flags confuse the actors on the ground and, in some areas of the world, the Star of David would be a target - not so good for the people the ICRC is supposed to be helping. The ICRC has been for some time considering a new emblem, possibly a red diamond, to solve this issue. More here.
Regarding coffee, I don’t quite get why so many people are still pissed off about that. It was yeeeeeears ago, folks. Not only has the order from the War Department been lifted, but the entire War Department has been lifted.
I gave blood regularly for almost 10 years to the Red Cross before I was told I couldn’t anymore, because I’d spent more than six months in Britain over my entire life (they’re afraid of Mad Cow Disease). I asked if there was any screening for the antibodies that could be done, or any prospect of developing such a test, because I wanted to keep donating, if possible. The Red Cross pretty much blew me off.
And now I keep hearing radio ads about blood emergencies, and how badly they need blood donors… =sigh=.
Well, I will never buy a Honda because I was shafted by a motorcycle dealer 20 years ago. (The older you get, the shorter 20 years ago is, so for many Second World War vets, 60 years ago is yesterday.)
I personally hate the Red Cross for several reasons- when I had to give my own blood for a surgery I was having, they gave me no end of a hard time with the donations. First they wanted to charge me $60/pint (and I was doing 5 of them) to ship it to my hospital where I was having the work done. I didn’t have the money to do that, to which they said “tough shit”, in a nutshell. Then some of my family members were going to donate me some blood in case I needed more, and there was some ridiculous hoops to jump through and they were all going to be charged somewhere upwards of $100/pint to donate and have it specified for my use. Never mind.
So I ended up driving up every week near the hospital I was getting the surgery done at and doing my donations there. Worked out OK in the end, but I couldn’t get over some of the charges they wanted to put on me and that there was absolutely no way around them or to make payments or anything- and I’d been a regular donor since I was 18 and COULD give. My father, too, is a lifelong donor. None of that made any difference to them whatsoever. We could all go shit in our hats as far as they were concerned.
About 6 months after my surgery I donated again. I was asked 10,000 times if I’d had surgery recently and I said yes and when. They took my blood, no problem. Bear in mind that this was 1990 and AIDS paranoia was rampant- at least it was for me. That’s why I donated my own blood. As far as I was aware I’d received all of my own blood back, but I wasn’t exactly awake and aware, so who the hell really knows? Anyway, about 4 days later I get a message on my answering machine.
“Hello Ms. ***, please call the Red Cross Blood Center immediately regarding your donation. Ask for Nurse Ratchet. It’s very important for you to return this call as soon as possible. Thank you.” click
And it was Friday evening when I got it and I couldn’t call. And I was thinking what on earth could it BE except a positive HIV test? Never, ever had they called before for any reason whatsoever. Why do I have to talk to a nurse? WHAT WHAT WHAT??? I called first thing Saturday- sorry Nurse Ratchet isn’t in and we can’t give you any information- you have to talk directly to her.
So all weekend I was sick with panic and worried out of my ever loving mind. Monday morning I called Nurse Ratchet and she says “What was the date of your surgery again?” I told her the last week of April. She says “Oh, we changed our rules and you have to wait a year before donating after surgery now. It used to be 6 months but now it’s a year. So we have to discard your donation. We just wanted to let you know.”
I very nearly crawled through the phone and choked the life out of her, no lie.
I still donate blood, but it’s to the local blood center. I’ll give the Red Cross emergency money and such, but I’ll never forget how little they gave a rats ass about me when I needed help and how bad they scared me over absolutely nothing.
Well, if Joan Collins circa 1968 wants to yap about the atom, I won’t object.
Blood isn’t collected by the Red Cross in France, but the institution in charge applies the same policy. So, it isn’t a Red Cross thing.
Speaking as a critical care RN, the Red Cross here charges our hospital for any blood we request. The local community blood center gives us the blood for free when we request it.
Caveat: When donating blood, go through your local community blood center, not the Red Cross !
Another issue which I don’t think has been mentioned here is criticism of the Red Cross for failing to publicise what it knew of the Holocaust.
There are thousands and thousands of charitable organizations out there. Some are great but a lot are either misguided or corrupt. They all want my money and I can’t give to them all. It’s sometimes difficult to ascertain which ones are effective and efficient. As far as I am concerned, (and I suppose this is true for many people), it’s one strike and you are out.
There are more effective and efficient organizations out there than the Red Cross. Maybe they are the biggest but that doesn’t make them the best. I send my money somewhere else which is my perogative. In the same sense I will never, ever, ever give a cent to the United Way because of the total malfeasance of their Board in allowing their head guy to live a life of luxury with his 17 year old girlfriend while expensing it all to the UW. Again, one strike and you are out.
Maybe so, but “are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977” is out of date, IMO. It doesn’t take 28 years for HIV/AIDS infection to show up.
That seems to be a standard question and not limited to the Red Cross. I’ve given blood to the Red Cross (only option I had in Pennsylvania) and to the United Blood Services (where I first started giving blood and just gave blood again on Monday.) Both places seem to have the exact same list of questions.
It’s a standard question for blood donations in the UK (which are nothing to do with the Red Cross). However, it’s one that is occassionally identified as something that should be removed, and it probably will before too long.
I used to agree with this about UW, but finally decided my belief was only harming the ones who needed help. Not knowing much about charity, I guessed that steady, long-term financing was preferable to occasional, wildly enthusiastic gifts (treatment centers can make long-term plans; knowing a roughly steady source of income exists). So I started my regular paycheck deductions (for UW). They still irritate me, but I figure it’s the best way to get steady help where it’s needed.
An update on the Red Cross from today’s NY Times:
It doesn’t look like they learned much from their 9/11 fiasco. They are still a top-heavy, inefficient organization that seeks out as much money as possible while avoiding accountability.