Japan Earthquake: Why Red Cross Still Hasn't Doled Out Donations To Quake Victims

The Japanese government has admitted it was slow to respond to the the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. Now, almost a month after the disaster, Japan's Red Cross has also come under fire for not yet distributing to victims any of the nearly $1.3 billion the public has donated.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has called for the process to be accelerated, the Los Angeles Times reports. But it might not be that easy.

The problem lies in streamlining the distribution process among such wide regions, Edano tells the Los Angeles Times.

Many of the local governments that would have been involved are no longer operational, Reuters reports. As early as this week, the Japanese Red Cross -- along with existing local governments and other agencies -- will form a committee to decide how to split the aid, according to Tadateru Konoe, president of the Japanese Red Cross Society. He tells Reuters:

"This is a big challenge and it is not something that we can resolve on our own," Konoe said. "Fairness and speediness do not go together easily."

Saundra Schimmelpfennig, a relief worker in Asia and former American Red Cross program coordinator, tells Marketplace she's not surprised the money is sitting.

"I think that the average person has misconceptions about how quickly you can truly respond well to a disaster, and there have been numerous instances where spending the money quickly is not spending it well."

She says in addition to initial setup complications, other obstacles include distribution criteria and logistics -- managing money transfers and determining whether to split aid based on need, family size or other factors, for example.

"There's been lots and lots of examples of past disasters that have shown that there really needs to be a coordinated thought-out response with the local people having some decision-making in it."

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Comments

[Dr Debrup Chatterjee]

11:43 AM on 05/30/2011

Red Cross has been serving from a long time . There must have been lack of reliable mediators to do the job . Specially during such calamities ,many people takes advantages from these situation,so organization needs to consider every bit of it .. . Though I do feel that many of such organization must be transparent .

[thedave108]

02:11 PM on 05/22/2011

The Red Cross generally doesn't pass out much of the money they collect to the advertised cause or victim. They kept over half of the donations they received for 911 as a "war fund" (their term). I have a feeling the main reason for the red cross is to make money for certain people 'in the loop'. Is GHWBush suddenly a humanitarian when he's shilling for them? Give me a break...

[boehnerstan]

09:26 AM on 04/12/2011

The Red Cross should just do what the American military does in Afghanistan: drive through every city and throw bricks of cash off the back of a truck.

[AgingLady]

10:58 AM on 04/10/2011

I know it is a confusing situation in Japan. And it seems as if Red Cross is always behind. Not the first time they have been caught in this kind of situation. Sad. I do not give to them anymore.

[LHoney]

11:47 AM on 04/10/2011

Me neither. I never give to any "corporate" charities anymore. Only to my local soup kitchen where I know and trust those in charge. I don't even donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and I have had juvenile diabetes for 49 years.

[AgingLady]

04:29 PM on 04/10/2011

Sookay, not a juvenile any more, smile. Never thot about that actually. So you do not outgrow it? And it is still called juvenile diabetes? And you are OK on maintenance? wow With you on the know and trust business.

[roninroshi]

12:18 AM on 04/09/2011

An amazing story...compare this to Katrina! http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tens-of-millions-of-lost-cash-found-in-tsunami-hit-areas

[Syllogizer]

03:14 PM on 04/08/2011

The IOCC, http://www.iocc.org, manages to get around all these delays by going through the Archidocese of Sendai (in the striken area).

[mckellygirl]

07:03 PM on 04/07/2011

I am both an employee of the American Red Cross in the biomedical information technology department and a local/national disaster volunteer. No matter how many drills and preparations for disasters, every disaster is different, the circumstances and response continues to evolve throughout the disaster. In the case of the huge disaster in Japan with major infrastructure and logistics problems, the compounding of the response with nuclear radiation, I can understand how there can be delays, and I feel for Japan. With Hurricane Katrina, the size and scale of that disaster overwhelmed response capacities for all playing a role. There were a lot of walk on volunteers without proper training/background checks. While distributing funds quickly via Western Union, we had issues with fraud to contend with during Katrina when people filed multiple and fraudulent claims. If donations to the Red Cross are generally donated, they are applied where most needed. If specified for a response, they must be applied there, even if there are more donation funds than needed for that response. That was not publicized during 9/11, but it sure is now (lesson learned). But the most common disaster is a single family housefire, and there isn't fundraising for these. It is very saddening to read all the negative comments here, many of which are misninformed. Another: the Red Cross does not pay for donated blood to ensure the safety of the blood--donors motivated for the right reason and not desperate for funds.

[kodon]

07:39 PM on 04/07/2011

Thank you! As a volunteer (and donor) I am amazed at how well run the organization is. I feel my time and money are well spent. It takes so much effort to try to bring organization and structure to a disaster that creates destruction and waves of chaos. So much must be in place day-to-day in order to respond to the unexpected. The paid staff I know work very hard and are essential in an organization of mainly volunteers (many of whom are highly skilled). It looks to me like the effectiveness of the donor dollar is amplified by the volunteer hours. I am VERY careful on how I spend my time, and watchful of how things are done, since I don't have a lot of free time and want to make the most of it. So far, my time is well spent.

[MerryMarjie]

09:38 PM on 04/07/2011

I'm sorry. Past experiences are necessary for people to make rational decisions, and the Red Cross has been nothing but bad news for years. With their current reputation, they are going to have to make some big, visible improvements before people will donate again.

It's not exactly as if the Red Cross is new to the "business," having been around for over 100 years. Perhaps the wrong people in charge have diverted the original purpose to enhance their own monetary standing.

[maxom]

06:45 PM on 04/07/2011

They will "dole" it out as soon as the big shots get their cut and they count whats left.

[MagicalPossibilities]

04:04 PM on 04/09/2011

Yep, they always pay themselves first. I will never donate to the RC or United Way.

[LHoney]

11:53 AM on 04/10/2011

When I worked for a large investment bank (as a secretary) in the 90s, I was the only employee in my department that refused to donate to the United Way. I was brought before the head of our subsidiary for a lecture on this and still refused. I knew then that something funny was going on there...

[LHoney]

11:50 AM on 04/10/2011

"Dole" Good one! F&F

[fwwest]

06:31 PM on 04/07/2011

I donate to the Salvation Army, not the Red Cross.

[maxom]

06:44 PM on 04/07/2011

Good for you....

[atexasdem]

02:28 AM on 04/10/2011

As a former Red Cross volunteer I'll freely say, I now make my donations to the Salvation Army. This is especially ironic because I'm not a christian. I have seen first hand how the Red Cross and the Salvation Army each handle adversity in the community. It's not even close. I compare the impact that each has on my community, again, not even close. Katrina was a farce. I know, I was there as a Red Cross volunteer. I was also there when Hurricane Ike hit Texas as a volunteer. That was the final straw for me.
The American Red Cross has turned into a corperate organization not a charitable organization. Their irresponsible actions dating back to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic because of it's economic impact on their blood program. Their lack of action during national and international disasters have to me personally destroyed the good feelings I once had towards them.
The American Red Cross inc. today best describes what the Red Cross has evolved into.

[robin360]

12:40 PM on 05/22/2011

I'm glad you mentioned what went down during the early days of AIDS, when the Red Cross knew the Hepatitis tests were not accurate, yet they continued to use them for transfusions. I do respect the volunteers, who respond on a dime and get out there to help.

[riaglo]

06:16 PM on 04/07/2011

Hi all, I work at the American Red Cross and would like to give some more info on this situation.

If you read the article above, it states that the Japanese Red Cross has been working with government and other agencies in the area to address the challenge of how to handle cash disbursements. This is separate from the work they have already done and continue to do with providing immediate relief.

Since the earthquake and tsunami struck on March 11th, the Japanese Red Cross has deployed thousands of relief workers to the disaster zone, handed out relief items to tens of thousands of survivors as well as provided them with life saving medical assistance and psychological counseling. In looking at responses to disasters, it’s important to remember that each country often has its own way of handling things. For example, the Japanese have a unique approval system for disaster response in each prefecture in which independent committees make the decisions as to how to divide up money for cash grants.

As the article notes above, due to the magnitude of the triple disasters which hit Japan, the Chief Cabinet Secretary has reportedly said the process for making cash grants may need to be streamlined. A Japanese Red Cross spokeswoman told journalists on April 4 that cash payments would likely start this month.

[mainemomma]

06:32 PM on 04/07/2011

Thank you for the clarification. I was getting a little hot under the collar, but if they are providing aid and comfort that is good news. It's what we expect the red cross to do.

[Kmuzu]

06:48 PM on 04/07/2011

Thank you .. I donated 15 bucks to the Red Cross Japan Relief .. it's not much but I'm glad it went or is going to help the people of Japan.

[Dadzilla]

06:10 PM on 04/07/2011

How hard is it to hand out a soft blanket, a MRE and a kind word?

[kodon]

06:25 PM on 04/07/2011

As a volunteer, I can attest that it is both harder and more rewarding than I ever expected. And much more frequent and local than I ever knew.

[riaglo]

06:27 PM on 04/07/2011

The Japanese Red Cross has been delivering supplies to affected people from day 1 of the earthquake. The story above is talking about the difficulties they've encountered with deciding how to distribute cash to people in a fair and effective manner. You can read about the material relief that's been provided so far here: http://www.jrc.or.jp/english/relief/list.html

[mightytonkatruc]

06:05 PM on 04/07/2011

See ... and I usually don't give to the Red Cross because they're crooks and liars, however, I did this time because I was stationed in Northern Japan years ago and I loved everything about that place. Wish I had stayed longer.

That will teach me.

[Caroleeena]

06:03 PM on 04/07/2011

This article is a planted public relations story.

[DannyEVillage]

06:41 PM on 04/07/2011

If the Japanese Red Cross deserves the same opinion I have of the ARC and the IRC, then I concur.

[Caroleeena]

08:04 PM on 04/07/2011

I am told by my friends on the ground in Japan that the Japanese Red Cross is being very responsive and has been since day one. What I don't get is why we're not steering some of our donations there. Clearly they don't have the same logistical problems that seem to be keeping us from helping.

[Velvettazz]

05:46 PM on 04/07/2011

All this logistics BS and "a coordinated thought-out response with the local people having some decision-making in it" crap is what the executives of these branches are well paid to have planned out in advance of disasters. Hello....that's what preparedness means...and while this money is sitting in the bank gathering interest, where is that money going?....