Opinions from around the country

The American Red Cross needs to take a hard look at its functions and its broad purpose after it has come under fire for its handling of donations after Sept. 11.

Initially, the charity received criticism for announcing that it would use some of the $850 million collected for its Liberty Fund, which was to aid victims of Sept. 11, for other, non-related projects. When, in fact, people specifically gave the money for a particular cause — to aid victims and families of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Add this problem to the fact that after record-breaking blood donations following Sept. 11, the organization had to destroy blood it was unable to use. Apparently the blood was not preserved soon enough to create a stockpile for future disasters. Hospitals are working with dangerously low blood banks on a daily basis, but the American Red Cross is destroying unusable blood.

There was nothing leaders could do regarding the blood fiasco except weather the storm. But, in response to the hail of complaints about the Liberty Fund, the organization changed its plan and promised to distribute the money only to Sept. 11 related projects.

That sounds simple enough — if only it were.

Even now that the American Red Cross has committed to giving away 90 percent of the Liberty Fund moneys by Sept. 11 of this year, it is still under the microscope. This week, the Better Business Bureau requested information from the charity as it investigated whether the organization still met bureau standards.

The American Red Cross is one of the country’s largest and most respected charities. As such, it must hold itself to a higher standard. In dealing with these problems, the leadership of the organization should take a step back and reevaluate some of its practices.

Instead of rushing to spend money in record time just to make a political point, the organization should use the funds collected to create programs that will benefit those feeling the long-term effects of the Sept. 11 attacks. In a disaster as large-scale as this, it is inevitable that further assistance will be needed down the road.

The American Red Cross should learn from these mistakes and be better prepared in the future.

This editorial comes from the Independent Florida Alligator at the University of Florida. This column was distributed by U-Wire.

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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002