Send Money, but Send it to the RIGHT Charity

I will get in trouble with some of you. You will think I'm awful. But I must take a stand. I have friends on the front lines of Katrina right now in Louisiana and Mississippi. I get reports from them about what's going on there every day.

I have considered publishing the emails directly but I don't want to jaundice them. I don't mind being a little jaundiced. Two examples:

Catholic friends of mine in Biloxi were feeding thousands. The Red Cross came in and stopped them. If they continued to do so any aid they might have gotten would be cut off. They ended up throwing away pots of Jambalaya because of this.

FEMA thru the Red Cross will not help people with relief who are being housed if that housing did not come thru the Red Cross. This from another friend of mine. This is happening right now. It's tragic.

I have a dozen others I am cataloging. This is not a pretty sight. It's all about power and control.

The Red Cross has done many good things. They have become a controlling bureaucracy which may not be the best use of our contributions.

A few days ago a fellow blogger rebuked me in my questioning of the Red Cross, I backed down. I now have to take it back. I have continued to get backchannel feeds which tell me something is really wrong. Either all those people who don't know each other are lying or.....What?

My suspicion is no one who is in a position to be hurt or not helped by the Red Cross is going to say anything right now. My further suspicion is there are so many stories like this which will come to the surface in time. I hope the Red Cross can resolve the questions that will be raised. I have doubts.

Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, any good sound faith based organization is a better way to give. Lutheran Relief. Baptist whatever your bent is, most of that money is funneled properly and without the control, agenda and the bureaucracy that the Red Cross has become.

Hang on to your hats. When the stories start coming they will be brutal. Red Cross, this shot is directly across your bow. Your future depends on it. You can't afford a scandal now. The work you do is too important for you to mess it up now.

I appeal to any representative of the Red Cross to contact me, I would like to get to the bottom of this. I await your email.