Certainly, the Red Cross should be applauded for the majority of the work it has done worldwide.  It's been a reliable organization in many regards. Example: the recent 7.8 earthquake in Nepal...the Red Cross was there.

Yet this is not the first report to come out about "diverted assets" from the organization. 

The slums of Canape Vert are devastated following the earthquake on January 14, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Courtesy: Getty Images.

Remember the Hurricane Sandy scandal?  Maybe not.  Because no one spoke about it, save maybe NPR.  

And now come the allegations that the Red Cross has "broken promises, squandered donations, and made dubious claims of success" in regards to the relief efforts in Haiti.  Haiti!  The Haiti earthquake occurred over five years ago!  

The Red Cross launched a huge campaign to transform the area in and around Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince.  The organization received an outpouring of donations, including the well-publicized gift of $1 Million from Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock. The total of those donations came in at nearly half a billion dollars.  

ProPublica reports that, despite the organization's claim that they have provided homes to more than 130,000 people in Haiti, the number of permanent homes the group has actually built is closer to SIX.  Six, people.  

All of this transpired - allegedly - because of failed communications between the locals and the aid workers.  According to the ProPublica, the former director of the Haiti program, Judith St. Fort (who is Haitian American), wrote a memo that the organization was failing in Haiti and managers had made " 'very disturbing' remarks disparaging Haitian employees."  

Of course, the report claims that the Red Cross won't divulge any details of how the donations were spent.  The organization states they spend 91 cents to every dollar on programs and services.  Accusations that "details of Red Cross spending are so broad as to be useless" is a myth, the agency said.  

Myth or not, you should read the rest of the report here.  Make your own assessment and sound off below.  

Wonder if Sandra wants her money back.  

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC its affiliates, or its employees.

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