He was quickly promoted and became part of a select group of Mass Care Chiefs. In Red Cross lingo, mass care is the provision of food, shelter and supplies immediately after a disaster. $8 Million in fund raising and 97% goes back into fundraising. VFW recovered more than $10 billion in compensation in pension on behalf of more than 550,000 veterans and eligible family members in fiscal year 2021. Jobs usually last a few weeks, beyond which chiefs risk burning out from exhaustion. Henry Betz, at 76, rattles around his house alone at night, thinking about the water his family unknowingly drank for years that was tainted by the same contaminants, and the pancreatic cancers that killed wife Betty Jean and two others in his household. Webnational veterans service fund public relations pr nightmare. Peter ORourke, acting secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, commended the FTC and officials. In some low-lying areas, residents had to be rescued from the rooftops of their submerged homes. Rieckenberg, who planned the Red Cross mass care effort from Washington before the storm hit and then worked on the ground in New York, experienced the problem firsthand. Copyright 2023 NORD National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. All rights reserved. With your support, the VFWs National Veterans Service (NVS) helps veterans with VA claims. The claims process can be confusing and no veteran should ever have to go it alone. VFW has offices across the nation, including locations on military installations to help those who have served. "VietNow was a telemarketing scheme which used professional fundraisers who tolddonors their donations would help local vets," said John Wobensmith, secretary of state for Maryland, one of the states that investigated the group. Eigers objection letter quickly turned into a PR disaster as the company received public backlash. The FTC and charity regulators and law enforcement officials in every state have teamed up on more than 100 actions against dozens of fake charities, which have collected tens of millions of dollars in donations of cash and vehicles and other goods, all part of scams that did not directly benefit veterans, officials say. At community engagement sessions around the country this summer like the one in Horsham, residents and state, local and military officials are demanding that the EPA act quickly and decisively to clean up local water systems testing positive for dangerous levels of the chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. About 460 mass care volunteer workers 90 percent of the workers the organization dispatched to provide food and shelter for the storm overall were stationed in Tampa ahead of landfall, Rieckenbergs emailsfrom the time say. "But they're gone.". Given the findings on the compounds, alarm bells "should be ringing four out of five" at the EPA, Kerrigan Clough, a former deputy regional EPA administrator, said in an interview with the AP as he waited for a test for PFAS in the water at his Michigan lake home, which is near a military base that used firefighting foam. We were pushing every resource we had to its maximum capability, Riggen, the Red Cross executive, said when asked about the episode. Rieckenberg says he never heard from him. I cant afford to have my ERVs sitting around all morning, Ade said. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. The iconic charity has a government mandate to work alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency in relief efforts. In 2012, two massive storms pounded the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, hungry or without power for days and weeks. 1 Available by prescription only, its also the first and only digital therapeutic developed specifically to treat nightmares that is cleared by the FDA. By continuing to use this website, you agree to the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. In addition to President Obama, Mitt Romney and Bruce Springsteen urged people to donate to the Red Cross. The skincare company Nivea took some heat on social media after it debuted an ad featuring the phrase "white is purity," which some accused of supporting white supremacy. The FTC and attorneys general in Florida, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohioand Oregonfiled a complaint and reached a settlement with Help the Vets, officials announced Thursday. You (as usual) have clearly articulated the core of many of the issues we are facing. As the Red Cross internal documents note, the challenges of urban disaster response include physically grueling tasks such as walking up stairs in high rises to get to people in need. There was an additional problem with unrelated adults showering with children., Its hard for us to know based on this document exactly what occurred and where, the charity wrote in a statement. The executives asked Rieckenberg and Scheifele to be patient, promising reforms. It declined to provide documentation for its account. I dont donate to the Red Cross. Rieckenberg emailed his superior at national headquarters on Sept. 12, 2012, to sound the alarm. Maybe try a search? He says he refused, telling his superiors that if anyone should be let go, it should be him, since he was in charge. WebHere they are. "I know that you can't bring back three people that I lost," Betz, a retired airman, told the federal officials at the Horsham meeting. Asked about that, Riggen says crippled is a strong term. The public enumeration of the Red Cross services was accurate, he says. The Red Cross says Klum was delivering supplies to families. SOMEONE SHOULD PUT THIS GUY AND HIS CRONIES OUT OF BUSINESS. We became focused on making the numbers look good and in showing a presence, he emailed Riggen, the Red Cross vice president, on Nov. 18, 2012. Army Special Ops Command welcomes first female command sergeant major. The groups self-assessments, drawn together just weeks later, were far less congratulatory. After a storm, the full-time staff mobilizes volunteers and a smaller corps of disaster relief experts, known as reservists. In early December 2012, Red Cross officials asked Bob Scheifele, who was then mass care chief for New York, to put on a demonstration for donors who had funded the Spirit of America, a giant mobile kitchen attached to a semi, which has the capacity to make 30,000 meals a day. He writes a regular column for the New York Timess Dealbook section. Barbra Streisand. Red Cross officials are supposed to track sex offenders who come to shelters and confer with law enforcement. The overall Red Cross operation after Isaac was beset by problems. In 2015, Starbucks had its own PR disaster with its "race together" campaign, which sought to help heal race relations in America through coffee cup stickers, and not much else. WebFrom fighting for veterans benefits on Capitol Hill, to financial grants, transition support and educational scholarships, we're there to ensure current and former service members Among the multiple systems that failed was the charitys tracking of its emergency response vehicles. The ad also included a picture of a woman and the caption "Keep it clean, keep it bright. 2 NightWare uses information from the Apple An official gave the order to send out 80 trucks and emergency response vehicles normally full of meals or supplies like diapers, bleach and paper towels entirely empty or carrying a few snacks. Youve got a 75-year-old emergency response vehicle driver whos got to go up 17 stories to feed a 75-year-old disaster victim. "Otherwise it's the game of whack-a-mole," she said. That wasnt the problem, Rieckenberg told his superiors. I believe the reorganizations that have taken place are killing this organization, says Bob Scheifele, a veteran Red Cross disaster response expert who was on the ground after Isaac and Sandy. The Red Cross relief effort was worse than the storm.. The National Veterans Services Fund, Inc., (formerly Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Victims, Inc.) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and inform He joined the Red Cross after seeing the images of Katrinas devastation. The decision-makers in an organization make a bad decision and then after it becomes public, the organization desperately seeks to ignore the obvious. The Red Cross botched key elements of its mission after Sandy and Isaac, leaving behind a trail of unmet needs and acrimony, according to an investigation by ProPublica and NPR. national veterans service fund public relations pr nightmare. Justin Elliott has been a reporter with ProPublica since 2012, covering politics with a focus on money and influence. Didnt Lady Gaga just donate a million dollars to you guys? she asked the Red Cross staffer. The charity said 15 vehicles were distributing supplies at a site in Staten Island where a press conference with then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was held. In one previously unreported incident that became instantly notorious among Sandy responders, the Red Cross brought a truck full of pork lunches to a Jewish retirement high-rise. The charity also insists that the volunteers and resources we deployed to Florida did not come at the expense of other states. It did not provide figures for how many mass care volunteers were on the ground in other states before Isaac. Red Cross volunteers had to distribute cold leftover Danishes instead. This is extremely systemic.. I was so mad.. She executed layoffs and reorganizations that closed local chapters and centralized power at national headquarters in Washington. One Red Cross staffer came to a Rockaways community center and asked them to donate some. According to the U.S. attorney's office, Tanner altered records to conceal her scheme and falsely claimed the money was being paid to veterans from 2009 to 2014. A locked padlock The stated mission of the NVSF was to provide case managed social services and limited medical assistance to Vietnam and Persian Gulf War veterans and their families, with a focus on families with disabled children. In response to questions about its performance after Sandy overall, the Red Cross frequently points to the total number of services it says it delivered: 17 million meals and snacks, 74,000 overnight stays in shelters, more than 7 million relief items like blankets and flashlights. Connecticut Financial Center Suite 310 The volunteers were told to drive around and look like youre giving disaster relief, Rieckenberg says. Video showed security dragging the man being off the plane by his arms with blood on his face. United's latest public relations nightmare was preceded by an incident last month in which two teenagers were barred from boarding their flight because they were wearing leggings. United's latest public relations nightmare was preceded by an incident last month in which two teenagers were barred from boarding their flight because they were wearing leggings. "I don't know that we've done the science yet to really provide any strong guidance" on risks of the kinds of PFAS that U.S. companies are using now, said Andrew Gillespie, associate director at the EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory. The charity, which took in about $20 million from 2014 to 2017, must pay its remaining assets, at least $72,122.36 to one or more court-approved legitimate veterans Buy some batteries with it.. Disaster expert Richard Rieckenberg met with senior officials in October 2012 to voice his concerns. She told him a group of volunteers scraped together $700 to get the supplies they needed. Donations of vehicles and boats amounted to about $454,000. The chemical industry says it believes the versions of the nonstick, stain-resistant compounds in use now are safe, in part because they don't stay in the body as long as older versions. This story was co-produced with NPR. Muriente and others recall that Red Cross workers got lost driving around New York without GPS devices, trying to find devastated neighborhoods. Lock The caterer couldnt produce the lunches and dinners. During Isaac, Red Cross supervisors ordered dozens of trucks usually deployed to deliver aid to be driven around nearly empty instead, just to be seen, one of the drivers, Jim Dunham, recalls. In addition to targeting filing complaints against fraudulent charities, the FTC has launched aneducation campaign to help consumers make sure they are donating to legitimate charities. Americans are grateful for the sacrifices made by those who serve in the U.S. armed forces, Simons said in a statement announcing the initiative. Patients must rely on the personal and individualized medical advice of their qualified health care professionals before seeking any information related to their particular diagnosis, cure or treatment of a condition or disorder. (Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images) In the ensuing chaos, the caterer was While most charities are trustworthy, patrons must be vigilant, says Art Taylor, president of the Better Business Bureaus Wise Giving Alliance. While contamination of drinking water around military bases and factories gets most of the attention, the EPA says 80 percent of human exposure comes from consumer products in the home. In Delaware, National Guard troops handed out water after high levels of PFAS were found in a town's water supply. WebNational Veterans Service Fund, Inc. In part, these changes reflected several years of operating in the red. New Haven, CT 06510, Telephone: (203) 821-3700 We are constantly evolving our procedures to better identify dishonest information," it said. One reform, the Red Cross says, moved nearly one-third of its disaster positions out of national headquarters and into the field, closer to the victims. The charity was not good at scaling up to the size of the disaster, said the official in charge of the Red Cross disaster response in New York, according to the minutes of the December 2012 meeting to assess the charitys performance. President Obama, who is the charitys honorary chairman, vouched for the group after Sandy, telling Americans to donate. NORD is not a medical provider or health care facility and thus can neither diagnose any disease or disorder nor endorse or recommend any specific medical treatments. "That's not what you want to do when you're protecting the public health.". County officials had no easy way to get in touch with Red Cross leadership to tell them about areas of need on the ground, he says. Americans get a patriotic feeling when they donate to charities that help military veterans and current service members a sentiment dozens of charities across the U.S. have exploited to scammillions of dollars in donations, a government watchdog agency says. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. PFAS have been in production since the 1940s, and there are about 3,500 different types. The charity ultimately raised $312 million to help Sandy victims. The modern-day Red Cross was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a unique part in responding to disasters. He was in charge of tracking food and, at the time, the Red Cross was already wasting three out of every 10 meals being prepared, he estimates. Thank you for the low-down on this organization. They belong to Gail and shes going to do whatever she wants with them, referring to McGovern, the Red Cross chief executive. Heres where were donating our moneyMore:13 ways to give to charity without breaking your budget. One, looking at a kind of PFAS once used in making Teflon, found a probable link with kidney and testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, hypertension in pregnant women and high cholesterol. We didnt have the kind of sophistication needed for this size job, noted a Red Cross vice president in the same meeting, the minutes say. I was infuriated, she recalls. The action led to a mass boycott of the ride sharing service and the hashtag #DeleteUber. McGovern had spent her career as an executive at AT&T and Fidelity and was teaching marketing at Harvard Business School. Sadly, some con artists prey on that gratitude, using lies and deception to line their own pockets. It's in her.". So did scientific studies that firmed up the health risks. All rights reserved, Southington Drive-In Announces Summer Movie Schedule, Police Identify Man Found Dead on Side of the Road in Watertown, 7 Bodies Found During Search for Missing Oklahoma Teens, Bride Killed and Groom Injured by Speeding DUI Driver After Wedding in South Carolina, Police Say, NBC & Telemundo Connecticut Job Opportunities. In the ensuing chaos, the caterer was only able to deliver 70,000 Danishes the following day, Rieckenberg says. (ProPublica has raised questions about the opacity of Red Cross disclosures on how this money was spent.). Every SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER, FIRST TAKE. WebAuxiliary units can be chartered just about anywhere there are people with the passion and desire to serve veterans, the military, and their families wherever they are. Updated 05/02/2016. Quincy, MA 02169 But Peter Grevatt, director of the agency's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, told The Associated Press that there's no deadline for a decision on possible regulatory actions. They were not interested in solving the problem they were interested in looking good. Phone: 617-249-7300, Danbury, CT office The Red Cross disputes the notion that the Republican National Convention influenced their deployment, saying it was responding to early forecasts that Tampa might be in Isaacs path. To securely send us documents online, please visit our SecureDrop site. According to interviews and documents, the Red Cross lacked basic supplies like food, blankets and batteries to distribute to victims in the days just after the storms. He was asked: Should people give money to the Red Cross? Scheifele says he made the arrangements to have it restarted, but there was a snafu, and the Spirit of America didnt get up and running properly. It looks like nothing was found at this location. It was the first time in Rieckenbergs experience that people in charge of disaster relief didnt have the final say over where Red Cross volunteers were sent. Another Red Cross disaster response chief, Steve Ade, complained to a vice president, according to Rieckenberg and two other Red Cross officials. Did you know it takes a Victorias Secret model five hours to unload one box off a truck? the official says. by Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica, and Laura Sullivan, NPR, (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images), (Catherine Barde/American Red Cross via Flickr), (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for AOL), (Jason Colston/American Red Cross via Flickr), caliber of the people is a major issue (this is not a training issue). KYIV, Ukraine Laura Sullivan is a NPR News investigative correspondent whose work has cast a light on some of the countrys most disadvantaged people. In keeping with a carefully established plan, representatives from government agencies and charities gather there to coordinate, share information and respond to crises 24 hours a day. Whats more, Red Cross officials at national headquarters in Washington, D.C. compounded the charitys inability to provide relief by diverting assets for public relations purposes, as one internal report puts it. Emails from the time show Rieckenberg complained that Red Cross officials prevented disaster response leaders from moving volunteers out of Tampa even after forecasts showed that the hurricane wouldnt hit the city. The charitys shortcomings were detailed in confidential reports and internal emails, as well as accounts from current and former disaster relief specialists. While often praised as a stabilizing presence by those outside the Red Cross, McGovern initiated a series of changes inside the organization that roiled the venerable charity. Used to describe decisions or actions made by a corporation or influencer that could potentially lead to their cancellation or wide-spread hate. The finding helped move PFAS up as a national priority. They defend the Red Cross performance after Isaac and Sandy. Top Red Cross executives were furious.
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