Many Hurricane Sandy survivors are not too happy with the response by the American Red Cross and many are wondering what the millions of dollars in donations are going to exactly. A large chunk, $181,000, went to volunteers to stay at a high-end hotel in downtown Manhattan.
The Red Cross has raised $131 million for Sandy relief so far, but many Hurricane Sandy survivors are claiming that they haven't seen much of it. Recently, the Red Cross fired back and said their response has been "near flawless," but they didn't explain where the money is going until recently.
Part of it, $181,000, went towards volunteers to stay at the luxurious Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan and Sandy survivors are not happy about it.
The Red Cross told the Wall Street Journal that they took up 45 rooms in the upscale hotel at a discounted rate of $310 per night. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which can also received criticism in their response to Sandy survivors, has also taken three rooms.
They are staying in the hotel until Friday.
While some are living in luxury at the Soho Grand, 6,000 other volunteers are spread across 40 other hotels in the area, which include midlevel hotels such as the Hilton Garden Inn and the Hampton Inn.Others are staying in shelters or with family members and friends while they volunteer in the hard-hit areas that were affected by Sandy. About 200 relief workers are stationed on a Navy ship off Staten Island.
People are giving millions of dollars to the Red Cross in an attempt to help. Lady Gaga alone gave a $1 million donation. Those who donate may not know exactly what the money goes towards. The Red Cross can only supply food and run shelters, according to Reuters.
"People have been giving without finding out first what a group's capacity is to actually deliver services," Ben Smilowitz, head of the Disaster Accountability Project, a watchdog group for first-responder relief agencies, told Reuters.
Reuters notes that 92 cents of every dollar donated to the Red Cross goes towards their blood donation program and their relief projects, while the rest goes towards administration.
Sandy survivors are looking for more than a plate of food from the Red Cross. With so many homes destroyed due to fires and flooding, residents need help cleaning out what's left of their homes and they need money to try to replace things that were lost. Those in need are frustrated and not impressed with the response of these groups that they believe should help them.
"We understand that people are frustrated," Gail McGovern, chief executive officer and president of the Red Cross told NBC. "Anybody who has been without power, who has had to deal with this level of damage in their homes for this period of time, is bound to be frustrated and we completely understand that. I would also say that this disaster is bigger than any one organization."
According to CNN, the Red Cross has sent about 5,800 volunteers to areas affected by Sandy and have set up 472 shelters. They have delivered more than 5.3 million meals and snacks and has handed out more than 1.3 million relief items, including hygiene kits, clean-up kits, shovels and rakes.
"We are doing everything that we possibly can to be in as many places as quickly as possible but this is a big operation and we're up against a large geography and a large number of people that need to be served," McGovern said.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
