"Our job here is not to provide food...."

[journalist3072]

Need some help here, my fellow DUers.

Did anyone else here watch the CNN Presents special on Hurricane Katrina last weekend? It was basically like a timeline of events as they happened.

Anyway, there was some Homeland Security official in NOLA that they showed. I think he was at the Superdome. It was a clip of him saying something like "Our job here is not to provide food. We're here to make sure that by Tuesday morning, these people are still alive."

That comment outraged me so much! If anyone saw that, do you remember the name of the guy who said it? And I'm trying to figure out, was he a local official (meaning he worked for the local or state government) or was he a federal employee?

[whistle]

1. Also, what is up with all these charity appeals requesting "cash only"

....easier to hide and skim I suppose. Remember that the Red Cross takes all donations and puts them into their general fund of which 15% or less will ever reach the ultimate victims the appeals are based on.

[msongs]

4. where is your proof for this assertion? nt

[napi21]

5. I spoke to a freind of mine here in Ga. who is volunteering for

the Red Cross. Yesterday, she told me that most charities request Cash because they just don't have storage facilities to keep a lot of stuff, nor do they have sorters to get the donated items together and delivered to the needy.

I know this lady pretty well, and she's not easily snowed by foolish stories. I really do believe that is the main reason they ask for $$.

[HereSince1628]

6. I am not going to defend the administrative structure of the Red Cross but

if you go to their website you'll see that they allow donations to be placed into funds for different types of work.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

9. You can check ratings of charities

on www.give.org and see how much they spend on overhead and how much goes to program services

[whistle]

2. dupe...self removed

[linazelle]

3. I still wonder why the Red Cross is being promoted more than ever

in this disaster. Very suspicious to me. Who will account for the money raised for Katrina? I can barely recall watching any program on TV in the past week that doesn't ask for money for the Red Cross.

[woodsprite]

7. Wasn't one of *'s or Brownie's friends heading up the Red Cross?

Thought I read that someplace here on DU.

[FlaGranny]

8. I saw an interview

with a guy who said there were 250 NG there and some NO cops and that they were feeding those people in the Superdome. He said he wanted to set things straight as there had been so many rumors. He said it was bad in there, two attempted rapes, and other things, but that it was fairly secure and the people were fed and got water, but it did get extremely filthy, hot, and miserable there.

I do also remember hearing what you describe. Who knows what to believe?

Living in hurricane territory and being familiar with evacuations, I know that they ALWAYS tell you to bring enough food and water for yourself for three days, because the shelter may not have enough (or any) at a shelter. You have to bring your own bedding, too.