The American Red Cross solicited donations on behalf of the storm victims, raising over $300 million dollars.
Published reports released this week say The American Red Cross has not released more than $100 million dollars in relief money for Hurricane Sandy victims despite the fact that more than six months have passed since the storm.
According to the Associated Press, the nation’s premier first-responder aid organization collected a total of $303 million dollars in the wake of the storm but critics are now pointing out they have $110 million in unspent funds, clearly while plenty of use for the money still exists among thousands of victims of the storm.
Critics say the Red Cross officials have offered a watered-down, weak defense of their decision to hold back funds. The organization says they were waiting to see how New York and other hard hit states were going to spend the $60 billion in federal aid they received, before the charitable organization would fill in the gaps with funds in their possession.
Among the most vocal opponents to the lapse in funding from the Red Cross is Kathleen McCarthy, director of CUNY’s Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Civil Society. “It’s very hard to accept and understand the argument that the Red Cross offered: ‘we are setting money aside.’” McCarthy continued saying that there were people who were cold, homes filled with mildew and not enough decent housing and still the agency stayed with their plan to hold back desperately needed money.
In response to the newly released findings about the Red Cross distribution of Sandy funds, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn was one of 11 city council members in Sandy affected areas, which penned a letter to Josh Lockwood, Red Cross CEO for the Greater New York Region on Wednesday afternoon.
Lockwood answered his critics saying that the Red Cross was “waiting to see where the greatest need” would be over time and that the organization was more focused on “spending our resources wisely rather than quickly.”
Below is the text of the letter:
May 29, 2013
Dear Mr. Lockwood:
We are deeply disturbed by reports that the Red Cross has not spent $110 million of $303 million in Sandy relief funds.
On behalf of our constituents, we call upon your organization to immediately allocate these funds in the spirit of the Red Cross’ mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.
Our communities have faced immeasurable hardships in the six months since the storm. New Yorkers expect The Red Cross to deliver emergency aid, and we cannot accept that these funds should be allocated at a later date to address long-term needs. Sitting on this unspent money is an insult to both the victims of Hurricane Sandy and the generous donors to the American Red Cross.
This funding is urgently needed and could be used to fill in the gaps where government funding isn’t available.For example, the Red Cross can begin by spending these funds to assist non-profits with the installation of generators to minimize the impact of future storms. Priority should be given to non-profits that house/serve at-risk populations where emergency evacuations are difficult and hazardous.
Owners of co-ops that find their common areas ineligible for funding but are in need of repair to allow residents to get to their homes can also be addressed with the remaining Red Cross funding. By filling this gap the co-op owners can avoid large assessments that may force them to leave their building.
Allocating these funds would be a long overdue step in the right direction.We look forward to your immediate attention to this matter.
A spokesman for the Red Cross said that they expect to spend as much as $27 million dollars in Sandy donations over the next few months. Funds are reportedly in place for a program to help displaced families with grants in an amount up to $10,000.
The organization has vehemently committed to spending every dollar of the Sandy money on storm related concerns.
By Patricia Adams
