Red Cross encourages cash donations, not in-kind

By Marconi Calindas
Reporter

The American Red Cross NMI Chapter is encouraging the public to donate in cash rather than in-kind for relief efforts aimed at alleviating the plight of victims of earthquakes and tsunamis that ravaged countries surrounding the Indian Ocean.

John Hirsh, the director of the charity’s local chapter, said they had already turned back a couple of generous donors who gave away in-kind assistance.

He said owners of Taro Sue went to the Red Cross office this week to drop off 1,700 pieces of clothing but the office politely turned down the act of kindness.

Hirsh also said that he has discouraged the Thai community from bringing stuff to their headquarters. The Thai community reportedly was ready to forward boxes they received from other donors.

“It will take us tremendous time,” said Hirsh about sending to affected countries in-kind donations. “The way it works with Red Cross, the logistics aspect of shipping in-kind donations is tremendous.”

Hirsh said that, if they were to accept 20 donation boxes, for example, they would have to open every box, sort all the clothing, and see if they are still in good condition, and eventually repack all the boxes. He pointed out that even if they can figure a way to do that, other questions would be considered, such as how long would it take and who would do that for the office, and how much would that cost the office.

“I really would have to caution against that,” he added pertaining to in-kind donations. “But I’m not saying it’s impossible. The boxes can be delivered to relatives in those areas and the families who receive these relief boxes can deliver the donations to calamity stricken areas.”

Hirsh also added donating clothes could also pose difficulties in some areas where culture and lifestyle do not require clothing like denim jeans. Some of the areas may have people wearing Sarong and definitely would not appreciate other clothing, he said.

As for food donations, customs and quarantine laws are just some of the things that need to be considered. “It just doesn’t make practical sense,” Hirsh said.

He claimed that monetary donation is the best solution. Hirsh said the public can donate money, even a dollar, and what Red Cross can do is to forward that money to Red Cross offices in countries where the catastrophe occurred. He said the affiliate offices then could buy the clothing and food in that country for the victims.

Hirsh warned the public, though, to practice due diligence when donating, particularly money, when it comes to the donation drives of some groups. One advantage in dealing with the Red Cross, according to him, is that the Red Cross NMI Chapter is part of the largest humanitarian movement in the planet that has existed to help the needy for over 120 years with highly trained disaster response teams.

“Though there are other groups, or relief organizations, where the public can forward their cash donations, with Red Cross I think you can be pretty confident that we would spend it the right way,” Hirsh said.

“We have an international services department and all the money being donated here are forwarded to this department,” he said.

Hirsh added that on Saipan alone the Red Cross has already collected cash donations close to $15,000 and overall there are about $80 million in cash donations gathered by ARC America since the disaster happened.

In a related story, the Indian community would like to remind the public that they would still accept donations in cash on or before Jan. 10, 2005. The proceeds for this drive will go to the victims of killer tsunamis that wiped out entire villages in the Nicobar islands.

Donations can still be dropped at Bali Fashions located along Middle Road, Gualo Rai. Contact Mustafa Shakir at 483-2254 or 233-1190 for more information.