63.0°,
A Few Clouds and Breezy Is Red Cross sitting on Sandy aid?
City council urges agency to release millions in donations; Red Cross says it is distributing money daily
The Long Beach City Council called on the American Red Cross last week to speed up the release of millions of dollars in Hurricane Sandy donations that the charity has collected over the past seven months, saying that residents who are still reeling from the storm cannot afford to wait any longer.
In a May 31 letter to the organization’s president and CEO, Gail J. McGovern, all five council members said they are “extremely dismayed by published reports stating that the American Red Cross is going to continue withholding donated funds for an additional 18 to 24 months.”
The letter was sent after it was reported that as of mid-April, the Red Cross still had more than $110 million remaining of the $303 million it had received from donors hoping to help hurricane victims.
“Our residents and business owners have been devastated by Superstorm Sandy, and they cannot afford to wait any longer,” the letter read. “Time is of the essence as the people of Long Beach are putting their lives back together. It is absolutely critical that any donations received for Sandy victims are actually allocated to them. There is still an urgent need for financial assistance, and any help your organization can provide is greatly appreciated.”
City Manager Jack Schnirman said at Tuesday’s council meeting that the agency had responded to the letter, agreeing to meet with city officials on Friday.
“My hope for the meeting with the council members is to help explain what the Red Cross has done in Long Beach and will continue to do, hopefully with their assistance, and that’s to provide support to residents who need help,” said John Miller, CEO of the American Red Cross on Long Island.
More than 17,000 Red Cross disaster workers were deployed to New York in the wake of the storm to distribute food, set up shelters and coordinate local volunteer efforts.
“Long Beach received an incredible amount of Red Cross services,” Miller said. “It was among the largest in the New York metropolitan area.”
“That’s why we were surprised,” Council President Scott Mandel said. “Of all the entities that would create a hurdle or delay, that’s the last one we’d expect a delay from.”
