Ethical Issues With The American Red Cross
When an American hears the words “American Red Cross”, most of them think of big, blood drive busses or 1900’s nurses in baby-blue uniforms. A better way to define the Red Cross, however, would be to say that they are a humanitarian and disaster relief organization that was founded by Clara Barton, a self-taught nurse during the American Civil War. Barton started the United States chapter of the Red Cross on May 21st, 1881, after working with and appreciating the efforts of the International Red Cross in Europe during the Franco-Russian War. In the years after its founding, the organization grew and became a donation-funded, National effort with several locations in each of the fifty states. Even though collecting and selling blood through
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In one case, when asked to speak about some of the Red Cross’s operations in other countries, an executive said that she thinks that the Red Cross is “near flawless…” (executive Gail McGovern, NBC News). However, her statement was far from the truth. A relatively current example of a flawed Red Cross operation was when, in 2011, the Red Cross sent over one-hundred volunteers to Haiti to build homes for those affected by the magnitude-seven earthquake the previous year. When one considers the fact that they were over a year late to assist an area that needed their help after a natural disaster, already stands the first example of how the Red Cross is not at all “flawless”. During their time in Haiti, supposedly building homes for the poor, they received over half a billion (five-hundred million) dollars in donations that were supposed to be used specifically to build hundreds of homes for the affected Haitians. However, by the time they left, the Red Cross only built six homes, and zero homes were built in Campeche, Haiti, which caused donors to question what happened to their money. After a detailed investigation, it turned out that most of the money donated to the Red Cross actually goes toward fundraising and their blood drive efforts instead of their relief efforts, which is not made clear to donors before they donate. This has caused some irritation and distrust among the people who have donated to the Red Cross, because they thought their money was going directly to the relief
In one case, when asked to speak about some of the Red Cross’s operations in other countries, an executive said that she thinks that the Red Cross is “near flawless…” (executive Gail McGovern, NBC News). However, her statement was far from the truth. A relatively current example of a flawed Red Cross operation was when, in 2011, the Red Cross sent over one-hundred volunteers to Haiti to build homes for those affected by the magnitude-seven earthquake the previous year. When one considers the fact that they were over a year late to assist an area that needed their help after a natural disaster, already stands the first example of how the Red Cross is not at all “flawless”. During their time in Haiti, supposedly building homes for the poor, they received over half a billion (five-hundred million) dollars in donations that were supposed to be used specifically to build hundreds of homes for the affected Haitians. However, by the time they left, the Red Cross only built six homes, and zero homes were built in Campeche, Haiti, which caused donors to question what happened to their money. After a detailed investigation, it turned out that most of the money donated to the Red Cross actually goes toward fundraising and their blood drive efforts instead of their relief efforts, which is not made clear to donors before they donate. This has caused some irritation and distrust among the people who have donated to the Red Cross, because they thought their money was going directly to the relief