Red Cross Takes Social Media Beating For “Bullying” And Failure To Manage Donated Supplies In Wake Of California Fire

As one of the Northern California wild fires, the Valley Fire, continues to be brought under control, members from the surrounding communities continue to simmer about perceived “bullying” from the American Red Cross, which also allegedly included Red Cross members turning away those arriving to help, and shunning needed supplies and other donations.

Community efforts to help fire victims, many of whom were left homeless and with the majority of their belongings destroyed, started off strong, providing the fire victims some comfort in an otherwise horrible situation, reports KTVU Bay Area News.

“Emotionally it was, ‘What do you need? What do you want? What can I do for you?'” said one fire victim, thankful for the tents, supplies and support that seemed to be pouring in from everywhere.

The Valley Fire, though tragic, was also pulling the community together, people stepping up to help their neighbors, Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning telling KTVU, “We’ve in essence built another village inside the village of Calistoga, and Calistogans tapped their wallets, their time and their expertise to help their neighbors.”

But then the Red Cross rolled in and the “atmosphere changed,” the well-known disaster relief organization allegedly accusing the community efforts of being “illegal” and Red Cross managers mandating that only cash would be accepted as donations, with other needed goods being turned away.

Several area volunteers and organizers also reported the Red Cross turning away volunteers who figured a good place to check-in and find out where they could help would be a Red Cross booth. But apparently not so much, and as negative interactions with the Red Cross piled up and began trickling onto social media, a new fire storm of sorts erupted, one that was not so pleased with the Red Cross.

Among those posting their very negative experiences as they attempted to work with the Red Cross was long time Napa Valley resident, Rebecca Rowan.

Posting on Facebook, Rowan, who has been part of a number of previous relief efforts in the area after other disasters like floods and earthquakes, praised those previous community efforts, saying, “I was proud of my community and the way we banded together to support one another.”

But her experience contributing to relief efforts during this recent Valley Fire, and trying to work with the Red Cross, was not such a great experience, according to her post.

For Rowan, as victims of the Valley Fire lost their homes and most everything else they owned, her first question was, “What can we do?”

While the Red Cross had initially announced a need for donations, to which Rowan and many others responded, with clothes, blankets, and other supplies upon arriving at the Calistoga fairgrounds where the Red Cross had set up their headquarters, Rowan was told by the Red Cross that they were only accepting monetary donations. The supplies that had already been donated meanwhile, had simply been dumped in chaotic piles on the ground with no sign of anyone having any intention of managing the supplies for which there reportedly was dire need.

“I couldn’t even believe it. I have photos of the piles. Brand new clothes getting dropped in the dust, toys becoming undone and dirty, perfectly good blankets and towels, destroyed. This couldn’t happen! These items were needed. I pushed out of my mind thoughts of getting there sooner and… put myself to work!”

While the grueling hours, then days, of sorting the supplies were a labor of love and community support for Rowan, a need for additional volunteers to help sort and make the items accessible to fire victims fell on deaf ears when she inquired of the Red Cross, who followed with a threat to banish Rowan when she objected to their alleged policy of not handling donations.

And according to Rowan, not only did the Red Cross refuse to help, but they’d also turned away a number of community volunteers that Rowan had recruited through social media. When Rowan then asked the Red Cross folks that they please not do that, the Red Cross purportedly followed through with their threat and told Rowan to leave.

In the end, Rowan and other community volunteers were relocated to sort and distribute donations to the fire victims. There still, however, was a Red Cross presence nearby, but the iconic organization was still doing nothing to impress Rowan.

“I saw at least 20 or so Red Cross workers standing off to the side, in the air conditioned offices, doing nothing. They didn’t even update us on the immediate needs for the victims… Actually, the only time one of them spoke to me, was to cut in front of me to use the bathroom. That was it. What the (American Red Cross) bureaucrats were fighting for was control, power, credit, (and) praise for themselves.”

Red Cross’s reaction to the general notion that they were “inflexible in what (they) would or would not do” cited an inherently emotional scene coupled with regulations they’re required to follow.

“You’ve got volunteers here from the area who are stressed out,” said Regional Specialist for the American Red Cross, John Brown, Jr. “Some have families in the disaster, so things can happen.”

Brown also posited that “the criticisms were more emotional, than tangible,” and as for distributing donated goods, said that “With the safety regulations that we’re under, responding to something like this, we have to be careful what we give people in the shelter.”

One last rub between the Red Cross and non-Red Cross community volunteers is that the Red Cross prefers volunteers to have Red Cross training.

Whether or not these types of explanations by the Red Cross have soothed any of the community volunteers that were left feeling bullied or slighted remains to be seen. But judging by the negative sentiments that continue to populate social media, the Red Cross has some work to do.

Leading up to this latest controversy, others have also been very critical of the Red Cross, citing their “lack of transparency, poor performance and squandering donor funds.”

[Images by Rebecca Rowans-Connor via Facebook, and Stephen Lam and David McNew via Getty Images]