My wife and I are sitting here with a few coins in our pockets wanting to help. She is suggesting we donate to the Red Cross. I have heard that the Red Cross will send you a bill after they help you out.
Am I crazy and or misinformed?
I just can’t get the vision out of my head either from friends/news that the Red Cross charges for their services.

Any first hand experience out there?

Thanks
Robert

My money will go to the Salvation Army before all others.

I have not been helped by the red cross. I do not intend to help them (other than blood donations) The red cross is such a large bureaucracy and I feel too large portion of the donations do not reach the people.

Just my humble opinion

Hang on, Robert...
I can't say good or bad about the Red Cross, but my dad is a retired firefighter after 26 years in the department. My wife wants me to call him tomorrow because her 3rd grade students want to do something to help, and I will ask his advice for some ideas. I'll post on here what he suggests.

Salvation army is your best bet. I also heard that the red cross sends you a bill.

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Joe

I've only had one encounter with the RI Red Cross- was part of a search party for some lost kids and the Red Cross provided coffee and donuts for the lot of us(no charge)

When I was stationed in San Antonio, TX, a long time ago, my wife's father died. We were newly married, and she was from Maine. I was attached to an AF base with a very small Navy detachment (training command) and no one was able to get me in touch with the Navy Relief Society. My CO contacted the local Red Cross chapter and the guy in charge came out to my house. He said that they were only supposed to proovide transportation for the next of kin - not for me. To make a long story short, he took money from the local chapter for my wife's ticket and he took money from the national organization for my ticket because he thought that under the circumstances she should not travel alone. They made all the arrangements and he even offered to drive me to the airport and pick me up when we returned. The money for these tickets were grants with no requirement to pay them back. I did however, a little at a time (a poor young E-4 in 1978!!) and continued to donate to them until I retired from the Navy.

I have great respect for both the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

The Red Cross earned a bad reputation during WWII among servicemen overseas by charging them for stuff, even things like cigarettes, that all the other other non-government, non-profit organizations like the USO gave away.

And yes, they do charge you if you are a blood recipient. It's not free.

[This message has been edited by LarryB (edited 09-21-2001).]

I don't think its bad to donate to either one, but my preference goes to the Salvation Army. I agree that the Red Cross is an awful big beaurocracy, and think the SA just provides more and better support in these situations.

However, I don't see anybody going wrong donating to either.

My bank was doubling donations to one of these organizations (I forget which exactly) so I donated a few bucks to that. I thought the chance to double the money was certainly worth it! You might want to see if anybody else is still offering this.

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John
AOLIM: Fformula88

1988 Fiero Formula
1985 Fiero SE 2M6

My employer is matching employee donations dollar-for-dollar to the Red Cross. At least 1 other company I know of is doing the same, up to $100,000 per **individual** donation.

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: I don't think its bad to donate to either one, but my preference goes to the Salvation Army. I agree that the Red Cross is an awful big beaurocracy, and think the SA just provides more and better support in these situations. However, I don't see anybody going wrong donating to either. My bank was doubling donations to one of these organizations (I forget which exactly) so I donated a few bucks to that. I thought the chance to double the money was certainly worth it! You might want to see if anybody else is still offering this.

Well, my dad didn't have any better ideas. He had not heard those rumors about the Red Cross, but says SA doen't ask anything in return, they just do what they can to help.

He thought the best thing for my wife's 3rd grade class would be to do something for our local fire department. I might suggest you contact yours, and see what fund they have for you to contribute to.