Public Comment

The second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, which pummeled the New York City region, comes on the heels of a joint investigation by ProPublica and NPR who contend the American Red Cross diverted critical resources away from those in need and instead launched a massive PR campaign to buttress its image.  

According to a ProPublica reporter Justin Elliott and Richard Rieckenberg, former disaster expert with the Red Cross, 30% of the meals it was producing for the Sandy victims were wasted. The investigation was based on Red Cross’s internal documents, post disaster reports and talking to disaster officials. The collective conclusion was the Red Cross failed in its mission of providing adequate relief after the storm.  

For example, emergency vehicles were diverted away from the disaster area to serve as backdrops at press conferences in photo ops. The investigation drew on a Red Cross internal "Lessons Learned" presentation titled, "hindrances to service delivery." The first bullet point stated that national headquarters were "diverting assets for public relations purposes."  

In an earlier disaster, Hurricane Isaac, Red Cross ordered 80 trucks and emergency response vehicles to leave the lot empty, drive around Mississippi, to make it appear as though they were actively engaged in disaster relief. The senior mass care chief in the country, Bob Scheifele, reminded charities that it was far more important to feed disaster victims than it was to squander resources telling the world you fed them.