My sister says I can use her FB page to get something off my chest if I identify myself lol. This is Lindsey Scott, and I'm astonished at the behavior of the Red Cross husband/wife team at the mid-county Jack Brooks airport yesterday. Who together accosted me and took turns berating me because I was trying to bring 400 warm hamburgers to our hungry evacuees, who according to them did not need the food because they had "already had a sandwhich." Yes, they had 1 sandwhich in 24 hours. They were desperate for a hot meal! The Red Cross proceeded to try and load the warm, ready to eat burgers into an ice chest. The pilot, who had donated his time, fuel, money, plane and arranged the delivery of the burgers was horrified at not being able to serve them (he actually came to volunteer as well). I confess I just stood there with my mouth gaping open, fighting back tears while they told me that I did not know what I was doing and they had not even seen me volunteering. This is not a normal reaction for me but either exhaustion or pregnancy hormones got the best of me because I simply couldn't find the words to fight back...
The Red Cross was not there at 6:30 am when we got there to find we had no food to serve the 100s of evacuees who had sat on a bus all night and some who had not eaten in 24 hours. They were not there when the sun came up and they woke up hungry, angry, tired, scared, and frustrated. They did not see them fighting over donuts that OUR friends and family answered the call to bring at 7:00 am. They did not see the tears over dehydrated babies while we worked to arrange the delivery of pedialite and formula. They showed up HOURS later....when we had already coordinated the delivery of food and supplies with our LOCAL community members (who came out in droves) and The Sky Hope Network through our wonderful State Representative Dade Phelan after just a single phone call. And the reason they didn't see me (sweating and sunburned) is because I spent most of the day on the aviation side of the airport on the tarmac coordinating the landing, unloading, and transport of supplies the Sky Hope Network was flying in all day. (which was no easy feat considering the insane, chaotic state of the Jerry Ware terminal). I do not care they weren't there (I understand the vast, severe, damage that ranges from Corpus, Rockport, Houston all the way to Louisiana). I do, however, care how they treated the people of our community when they arrived!
These supplies/donations were made by OUR LOCAL community members and the Sky Hope Network (not the Red Cross) and the Red Cross wanted them all shipped to their warehouse for processing and distribution. Apparently they don't do "local distribution." Say what?! We need these things here, locally, NOW. And while we refused to turn away anyone who came on foot or by other means (evacuee or not) or any other church, group, or organization asking for supplies...the Red Cross tried to prevent us from sharing OUR donations (contributed by our community for our community and surrounding areas). The kids that are barefoot need shoes NOW, not two weeks from now...and we had more than enough to share.
And the way, these two representatives of Red Cross treated local people who were donating their time (many in the wake of having lost everything of their own) and spending countless hours away from their kids and families in the wake of such tragedy hurts my heart. I pray this is not representative of the Red Cross organization as a whole. People who donate their money would be horrified. I'm thankful for our local volunteers who continued to fight with them (when I could not) and saw that the burgers and supplies were distributed to ALL those that needed them. As, OUR motto was, we turn no one away.
One thing I learned from this is THANK GOD I'm from TEXAS. Our men may spit, smoke, dip, cuss, and drink from time to time...but when the shit hits the fan, our husbands, brothers, dads, uncles, cousins, sons, and all the other men we know put on their boots, waders and get their boats and trucks and go to work! They aren't afraid to get dirty or work long hours in the dark. They aren't afraid of a little water, or snakes, or dogs that aren't kenneled. They are strong enough to carry you out of your home and they can deal with being hungry, wet, cold, and tired (they deal with this sitting in deer and duck blinds half the year). They have the know how to save your animals (horses, cows, etc) and they WON'T QUIT until the work is done. And our community will answer the call to donate, collect and distribute supplies and food wherever it's needed. I won't be waiting on the Red Cross.
Rant over.
28 comments:
Red Cross is a joke. CEO and high ranking employees living high on the hog from donations that are supposed to be going to help people in need. A very small portion of donations that they receive goes to actually helping anyone. Do your research on who you chose to donate to.
You are correct, very little gets spent on those who need it most. To those who would argue, look it up.
I remember returning from Nam back in the '60s the Red Cross made us pay for the coffee and donuts at their reception center in the airport.
That's what you remember?
In any situation, you always find an 'alpha ' who thinks they know better and takes over.
Stand strong nand trust your gut.
I never contribute to Red Cross.
It is a racket, pure and simple.
If a person wants to help his / her neighbor then help them directly.
Don't go through these large non-profit agencies. They are all corrupt.
Thank God I read this I was going to donate to the red cross. I'll find someone else now.
Salvation Army gives almost 100% of the donated monies to the needy.
There are good and bad in many of these organizations. A complaint to the Red Cross executive offices should be filed.
The Red Cross always ends up making nuisances of themselves in large scale efforts. Too much bureaucracy. They are better at one on ones like house fires.
The red cross has a very bad record , they do love the attention in the media , that we she can justify her queen bee $650,000 salary.
I'm with 6:06. I never donate to any group before checking how much actually goes to the people. Salvation Army has a very high percentage. The Red Cross isn't terrible, but certainly not the best use of my donation.
This is only the beginning!
Well, their interview on tv says it all folks... They only want money not food, even though all of the evacuee's need both... Red cross just want money so they can skimp on help and make more money to pay their fat cats... That is why you have people working for them and acting that way... The fact they only want money instead of food or supplies shows you their true colors...
Never donate to red cross... It will be like burning it or whipping your ass with it...
And who was going to be responsible if those "warm" previously prepared burgers gave hurricane victims food poisoning to add to their woes?
Yes, ice chests are often used to keep both cold foods cold, AND hot foods hot. There is nothing wrong with that. Keeping the burgers warm is better than getting people sick with some old burgers.
The people are posting pics of their Red Cross "disaster relief packages" online. Looks like a combo 1st aid/camping thing w/plastic eating utensils. They are hungry and thirsty and are handing that!
10:05 they are packed in those insulated foil bags AND in a cooler. They are safe to eat for a good 6hrs or more. I know this because our Houston area church is also preparing sandwiches and other things and they were told this is how to pack both hot and cold sandwiches.
Oh, I see you did know about it lol
The writer / complainer means well, but seems to have a problem with any authority that tries to coordinate relief activities to the victims. She should let them do what they do( disaster relief), and quit whining that the Red Cross won't let her do it her way. Her Ego is getting in the way of her doing any real good. Sounds like she wants the credit, more than actually trying to help the victims.
1:29
I think you are wrong. One sandwich a day is not much. As she stated Red Cross was not there in the morning to feed the people. There was no reason at all why those burgers while they were hot could not have been given to the people there. Sounds like the person at the Red Cross was upset someone else could do a better job than they were doing.
I stopped donating to the Red Cross when they collected all the money after 911 and then announced they would save some for future disasters. People were livid about that. Meanwhile they pay employees millions of dollars.
1:29 You are clueless. The RC wants all donations taken to their distribution center so they can hand it out. They want this so they can take pictures or whatever and show people what "they" are doing so people send them more money. Calls were put out for supplies running low like diapers, toilet paper, etc and the community is stepping up and taking it directly to the shelters. The RC is intercepting and telling them to deliver it to their distribution center so they can turn around and return it right to where it was delivered in the first place. Sure sounds like the RC knows what they are doing doesn't it LOL----wasting time and money trying to make themselves look good so they get more donations. They are nothing but a big business who spends most of it's donations on salaries, admin fees, fund raising, etc. They stand there like morons handing out little bags with a sample size hand sanitizer in it, a few band aids, plastic utensil set so the people can eat food handed out by them buy donated by others. They are the ones who have a huge problem with authority because they don't want the truth known about how they operate because it would hurt their bank accounts.
I saw the pictures of the food the RC is serving. It's in one of those divided Styrofoam to go containers. They are serving 2 yes TWO chicken nuggets and both the 2 smaller sections have not much more then a spoonful of canned peas in them each. You also get a snack pack sized container of pudding. This is what they are giving the people in their shelters. It's not this woman complaining. She is complaining for the victims. All the love is gone now and they are starving and getting angry.
Seriously the RC doesn't do much. Most of their staff is volunteer, they get everything donated including blood which they turn around and sell. They are no more prepared to handle this then the next person. As far as one on one they are okay. If your house burns down they will put you up in a hotel for a few days then hand you a $200 debit card for the Salvation Army and send you off is what I heard.
The Red Cross is nowhere in sight where the storm did the worst damage. South of Houston. No one has seen one RC person, vehicle or relief location in the many towns and cities outside of Houston. People are seeing the Salvation Army, Latter Day Saints, Mennonite Disaster Relief, Samaritans Purse but no RC.
I remember one of the complaints about them during Katrina was they were selling ice to people who needed it.
Take your comment and stick it where the sun don't shine.
Anonymous said...
And who was going to be responsible if those "warm" previously prepared burgers gave hurricane victims food poisoning to add to their woes?
September 5, 2017 at 10:05 AM
Life is full of "ifs". I don't live my life by "what if's". It gets in the way of actually "doing anything" if one is constantly worried about "what if". It's good to think things thru and prepare for the worse but doing something, anything is better than sitting and worrying about "what if" this happens or that happens.
"What if" aliens beamed up everyone?
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