UPDATE 29 SEPT 05
PLEASE DONATE TO OTHER CHARITIES, 
NOT THE AMERICAN RED CROSS
NEW CHARITIES BELOW - DIRECT FROM ASIAN AMERICAN ORGANIZATIONS DEALING WITH REFUGEES IN HOUSTON
LINKS ARE ON HOMEPAGES OF AA E-ZINE

Editorial in LA Times and later in Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opwal274444388sep27,0,6267271.story?track=mostemailedlink

Too much generosity goes to Red Cross
BY RICHARD WALDEN
Richard Walden is president and chief executive of Operation USA, a disaster relief agency based in Los Angeles. This is from the Los Angeles Times.

September 27, 2005

With Hurricane Rita making news, it's time for Americans to take a more disciplined look at their tremendous generosity.

As of last week, the American Red Cross reported that it had raised $826 million in private funds for Hurricane Katrina victims. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has the total figure at more than $1.2 billion for all relief groups reporting. So the Red Cross received about 70 percent of all giving.

This percentage was no doubt bloated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's mystifying release to the media of the names of 19 faith-based charities (plus the Red Cross, Humane Society and three lesser-known groups) to which the public should donate - rather than the much wider group of established relief agencies.

This skewed giving to the Red Cross would be justified if the organization had to pay the cost of the 300,000 people it has sheltered. But FEMA and the affected states are reimbursing the Red Cross under contracts for emergency shelter and other disaster services. The existence of these contracts is no secret to anyone but the American public.

The Red Cross carefully says it functions only by the grace of the American people - but "people" includes government, national and local. What we've now come to expect from a major disaster is a Red Cross media blitz.

The national Red Cross reports it spent $111 million last year on fundraising alone. Its fundraising vastly outruns its programs because it does very little or nothing to rescue survivors, provide direct medical care or rebuild houses. After 9/11, the Red Cross collected more than $1 billion, a record in philanthropic fundraising after a disaster. But the Red Cross could do little more than trace missing people, help a handful of people in shelters and provide food to firefighters, police, paramedics and evacuation crews.

A clamor arose when the media began dissecting Red Cross activities in the 9/11 aftermath. This resulted in the resignation of the organization's president and chief executive, Bernadine Healy, and the appointment of ex-Sen. George Mitchell (D-Maine) to oversee its 9/11 fund and help clean up its image. Funds were then pushed out the door - including millions to New York limo drivers who said they lost income after 9/11 and to upscale residents of lower Manhattan to help pay utility bills.

The organization also ran into trouble after the 1989 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake when it was revealed that it planned to spend only a fraction of the millions of dollars it had collected in the area damaged by the earthquake. When the Bay Area's mayors found out, they insisted that these funds be spent on housing, homeless shelters and health clinics. The Red Cross had to waive, for one time only, its long-standing policy against funding non-Red Cross groups.

The Red Cross expects to raise more than $2 billion before Hurricane Katrina-related giving subsides. If it takes care of 300,000 people, that's $7,000 per victim. I doubt each victim under Red Cross care will see more than a doughnut, an interview with a social worker and a short-term voucher for a cheap motel, with a few miscellaneous items such as clothes and cooking pots thrown in.

The Red Cross' 3 million unpaid volunteers, 156,000 of whom it says are deployed in Hurricane Katrina, are salt-of-the-earth Americans. But asking where all the privately collected money will go and how much Red Cross is billing FEMA and the affected states is a legitimate question - even if posed by the president of a small relief agency.

As Hurricane Rita dissipates, let me answer my unpopular question like this: Giving so high a percentage of all donations to one agency that defines itself only as a first-responder and not a rebuilder is not the wisest choice. Americans ought to give a much larger share of their generous charity to community foundations, grassroots nonprofit groups based in the affected communities and a large number of international "brand name" relief agencies with decades of expertise in rebuilding communities after disasters.

(And a P.S. from the AA E-Zine - AMEN!)

PREVIOUS ISSUES

For those interested in aiding the relief effort to APIA's displaced to Houston...

Dear All:

OCA-Greater Houston has set-up an online donation system
to assist in collecting online donations to be distributed
to the 2 APIA community relief funds that do not have
online donation capacity. Please give what you can.
Visit www.ocahouston.org to donate online.
 
Everyday, the number of families displaced by Hurricane
Katrina will continue to grow. These families from
Louisiana, Mississippi, and possibly even from Alabama will
continue to arrive in Houston, seeking help from local
Houstonians. The immediate help these families are looking
for is housing, food and medical needs.
 
In an effort to encourage local businesses and service
providers to provide assistance, we need your support to
specifically support the efforts of the local Asian/Pacific
Islander American Community to address the needs of people
with language and cultural barriers. We currently have
thousands of people coming to Houston and the local APIA
community is working together to provide assistance to
people in immediate need.
 
Currently Boat People SOS, HOPE Clinic, the Chinese
Community Center, the Indo-American Charitable Foundation,
the Hong Kong City Mall and other Asian community
organizations are on the front line helping people with
FEMA applications, Food Stamps, immediate vouchers for
prescription medicine to the non-insured, food, and other
assistance.

The Katrina disaster is not something that is short-term.
We are looking at a 4 month minimum time period where people
will need shelter and assistance. As the donation funds come
in, assistance will be provided in the order of medical,
food, shelter, and other basic needs.

If you are not making an online donation, please send
checks to:
CCC-Katrina CARE
9800 Town Park
Houston, TX 77036

Houston Asian Relief from Katrina (or HARK)
c/o Council Member Gordon Quan
P.O. Box 1562
Houston, Texas 77251

501(c)3 tax deduction information will be sent to all donors
from these 2 funds.

If you are a Houston resident, please contact me for
volunteer opportunities. I can be reached at
mini@theshaktigroup.com

Please consider spreading this message through other lists
you are a member of.

Thank you,
Mini Timmaraju
Member, Board of Directors
OCA- Greater Houston
 

From AA E-Zine:

While we respect the work the American Red Cross has done in its long history, many believe that because of its high administrative overhead and tendency to give the impression it is doing things it is not, there are other charities more deserving of your donations. While the list we have chosen is far from complete, it is a mixed sampling to give you GOOD options.

The salary of the CEO of the American Red Cross is just under $500,000. Think of how many $25 donations it takes just to pay that! UPDATE Please do not confuse the International Red Cross with the American Red Cross. They are distinct entities and their CEO's salaries do not compare.

The Red Cross donate now button does not guarantee the money will go to Katrina. Note that it says, Hurricanes 2005, giving the Red Cross the freedom not to spend the money it raises on this current devastation. A member of the SB University staff was told by someone at the Red Cross that if the check did not specifically say, FOR KATRINA, it would go into the general ARC operating fund.

Our choices were made because they are working directly with Louisiana and Mississippi re the devastation and rebuilding, and Texas for the refugees.

Many Vietnamese Americans in Louisiana are Catholic. The first ever Asian American Bishop was a Vietnamese American from New Orleans. Thus our choice of Catholic Charities.

Sr. Margaret Ann, VSA's advisor, and CCM, Catholic Campus Ministries, have long worked with Oxfam America, and in the case of Katrina, Oxfam is working with three local organizations in the affected area.

Planned Parenthood is vital to Asian American woman. For reasons why we suggest you read NAPAWF's Fact Sheet on Reproductive Health Care for Women. Vietnamese American women, for example, have the highest rate of cervical cancer of any racial or ethnic group. PP clinics were wiped out by Katrina. http://www.napawf.org/file/issues/Repro_Health_FactSheet.pdf

Their President also makes this promise: I pledge to you that 100% of your gift will go directly to the Planned Parenthood affiliates and health centers in the affected region — so that they can serve the women, children, and men who have nowhere else to turn.

The Tides Foundation is a well respected organization that helps organizations sidelined by mainstream charities. See the letters below.

We are trying to find other charities that work directly with the Vietnamese American communities and will add to the list as we do.

On September 6, from 7:30 - 9pm, VSA, the Vietnamese Student Association, will be accepting donations at its table at the Asian Info Fair in the Wang Center.

We also suggest donating a few hours of your time to the People Finder Volunteer Project to reunite families. All you need is access to the web. http://192.122.183.218/wiki/index.php/PeopleFinderVolunteer

Dear Friends,

The aftermath of Katrina has created a set of circumstances that make inaction intolerable, but we wonder what we can do from so far away.  Here is an opportunity to make a true difference.

I worked with Drummond Pike 20 years ago at the Tides Foundation, one of the most progressive foundations in the world, and home to many innovative social justice efforts (and some commercial ones, too. This fellow is part of the brain trust that started Working Assets).

If there is 1 group who can get aid and comfort to the most desperate and poor in a region rife with desperation and poverty; to the most marginalized and overlooked; to those who for whatever reason might fall outside of the bureaucratic definition of those fit for aid after Katrina -- this is that group.

Thanks for whatever you can do. If this post offends your sensibilities re: the purpose of this group, I apologize in advance. 

Dave Moffatt

Drummond Pike <president@tides.org> wrote:
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 16:14:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Drummond Pike <president@tides.org>
To: <dadmoffatt@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hurricane Katrina: Tides Rapid Response

Dear Friends,

I am writing to invite you to join us at Tides in contributing to an emergency response fund for our friends in New Orleans and the surrounding region.

As many of you know, Wade Rathke, the founder and chief organizer of ACORN, was also a founding member of the Tides Foundation Board nearly thirty years ago. He now also chairs the Tides Center Board. He has been a good and lasting friend to all that we have done here, and, without him, Tides would not have become what it has become.

As perhaps fewer of you know, Wade has made his home in New Orleans for all of these thirty years. ACORN's national office has been headquartered in a building at 1024 Elysian Fields Ave. in New Orleans - now partly under water. Wade's home on Burgundy Street has likely faired no better. We have all read that the city is likely to remain closed to habitation for months to come. ACORN, its sister organization SEIU Local 100, and all of their members are facing huge losses and enormous challenges. They need our help, and lots of it. For those who are wondering, ACORN is setting up temporary headquarters in Baton Rouge so they can process payroll and expenses for their 1200 organizers nationwide. Lord knows what computers they will use. Wade's daily blog over the past week (http://www.chieforganizer.org/) captures much of the confusion and pathos of the situation.

So, what to do? In the past, Tides has established Rapid Response Funds for emergencies (Hurricane Mitch, September 11th, and the recent Tsunami). In each case, we have used the funds to fill in the gaps where progressive organizations, community groups or underserved populations are left marginalized by the larger relief programs. This is our intent here. We expect that the bulk of the funds will be used to support the recovery of nonprofits that have served the Gulf States for years. Once on their feet, these groups will be one of the best ways to aid displaced people in dire straights. Second, we will be looking for ways to help undocumented immigrants and others often left outside government and Red Cross sponsored programs.

Tides Rapid Response Fund for Hurricane Katrina Relief and Rebuilding has been established for our friends to easily make contributions. You can make an instant online donation to the fund by clicking the DonateNow button at www.tidesfoundation.org/RR_0905.cfm.

For current Tides Foundation donors, you can immediately transfer funds to this effort by calling Tides at 415.561.6400 or logging onto your account at www.tidespartners.org.

Liza and I will be contributing $20,000 immediately and more in the future. I hope you will join us. Tides Foundation will be sending out a more formal appeal that some of you may also receive. Feel free to forward my email or the upcoming appeal on to your colleagues.

With prayers for the people of New Orleans and the Gulf States,

Drummond Pike

President of the Tides Organizations

415.561.6400 - o / 415.561.6361 - d

www.tides.org

************

From Wade's Blog (http://www.chieforganizer.org/):

"At the bottom line as an organizer one learns that sometimes it is not a question of doing the right thing or the wrong thing, but at least of doing something, allowing people to act in some way, to have a voice and to speak strongly with that voice.

Even as it turns out, that no one is willing to listen.
Or act.
Please help us and do something.
Now."

Donate at www.tidesfoundation.org/RR_0905.cfm

=========================================

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