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Post by avordvet on Aug 23, 2016 4:12:47 GMT -5
Can't fix stupid ...
Red Cross flood response under fire as volunteers, even governor question policiesBY REBEKAH ALLEN, Aug 22, 2016 - 6:55 pm After historic floods drove thousands from their homes this past week, Brandi Lipsey drove from her hometown in Concordia Parish to Ascension Parish with a trailer full of brand new medical supplies. She arrived at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center, where hundreds of evacuees were being housed. But the shelter, which receives support from the American Red Cross, rejected her haul of wheel chairs, crutches, canes, diabetic supplies and other goods like clothes and water, Lipsey said. She wasn't allowed to bring her donations inside of the facility, so people in the shelter, many of whom left their homes with only the clothes on their backs, came outside to her trailer where she handed out goods directly. "The people standing at the door would say, 'No, you're not going in there,'" Lipsey said. "But then there's people inside who are so grateful for the help and asking you to come back with more items." Lipsey is just one of many volunteers and evacuees who has recently voiced frustration at the policies of the American Red Cross, which is either managing or providing support to many of the regional shelters for evacuees. Lipsey and others say the organization is letting bureaucracy get in the way of common sense by denying offers for hot meals and turning away donations and volunteers that didn't go through their own channels, even when it's desperately needed. www.theadvocate.com/louisiana_flood_2016/article_59b03594-689f-11e6-bf38-fbc43401d8d9.html
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