national veterans service fund public relations pr nightmare

It was the first time in Rieckenbergs experience that people in charge of disaster relief didnt have the final say over where Red Cross volunteers were sent. Emails from the time show Rieckenberg complained that Red Cross officials prevented disaster response leaders from moving volunteers out of Tampa even after forecasts showed that the hurricane wouldnt hit the city. Not a threat; simply a promise. "It absolutely disgusts me that the federal government would put PR concerns ahead of public health concerns," Republican state Rep. Todd Stephens declared. In New Jersey, officials urged fishermen to eat some kinds of fish no more than once a year because of PFAS contamination. This bureaucratic nightmare, meanwhile, produced long lines for basic necessities such as water, and victims experienced on average 43-day wait times for the Red Cross to process requests for aid. We had trouble getting food to our kitchens. The Red Cross relief efforts were marked primarily by internal political wrangling, power struggles and ineffectiveness.. "Otherwise it's the game of whack-a-mole," she said. Facebook is trapped in a PR nightmare of their own making Ed Zitron Oct 20, 2021, 8:45 AM PDT Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in New York City on Friday, October 25, 2019. An official gave the order to send out 80 trucks and emergency response vehicles normally full of meals or supplies like diapers, bleach and paper towels entirely empty or carrying a few snacks. State lawmakers complained of "a lack of urgency and incompetency" on the part of EPA. Danbury, CT 06810 Writing more than 135 unauthorized checks in 2013 alone, Cynthia Tanner, the now-former bookkeeper at National Veterans Services Fund (NVSF), a long time "F" graded charity by CharityWatch, is under police investigation for allegedly embezzling over $185,000 from the veterans charity in 2013. About half of the pastries were wasted. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. This is extremely systemic.. It was too little, too late.. Hosting in Qatar is where FIFA s PR issues began, and they grew substantially WebNational. Independent academics and government regulators say they don't fully share the industry's expressed confidence about the safety of PFAS versions now in use. The disarray and deception in Mississippi made Rieckenberg furious, he recalls. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Web Clients include small private landlords to major national property companies and managing agents, as well as those in the public sector. Don't let anything ruin it.". There was nothing political in our decisions regarding Tampa, the charity says. A major offender, officials say, was Help the Vets, which had a nationwide operation, soliciting donations for its funding of veterans' medical care, including breast cancer treatment, a suicide prevention program, retreats for recuperating from stressand veterans fighting breast cancer. With the accompanying photo of a man looking at a distracted woman, some accused the ad of contributing rape culture by encouraging people to shirk consent. To securely send us documents online, please visit our SecureDrop site. The official was anticipating a visit by Red Cross brass and wanted to impress them with the level of activity, he says. In part, these changes reflected several years of operating in the red. Stop right there, a Red Cross executive from headquarters responded. We became focused on making the numbers look good and in showing a presence, he emailed Riggen, the Red Cross vice president, on Nov. 18, 2012. Design direction by David Sleight. The claims process can be confusing and no veteran should ever have to go it Help the Vetsfounder Paulson, identified as a retired U.S. Army captain on the group's GuideStar page, will also pay $1.75 million to one or more charities. She was also ordered to pay full restitution to the fund, as well as back taxes, interest and penalties. I believe the reorganizations that have taken place are killing this organization, says Bob Scheifele, a veteran Red Cross disaster response expert who was on the ground after Isaac and Sandy. The finding helped move PFAS up as a national priority. Rating Overall satisfaction rating Description: Charity - Veterans & Military Address: PO Box 2465, Darien, Connecticut, United States, 06820 "So we encourage all Americans to be generous," Taylor said, "but to take a few minutes and do your homework and make sure that every dollar that you donate ends with a charity that can actually do the work.". The Red Cross "divert[ed] assets for public relations purposes," says one internal report. (Matt Rourke/AP). The Red Cross maintains that the Spirit of America was reopened to serve the community, not for donors. In 2005, under President George W. Bush, the EPA and DuPont settled an EPA complaint that the chemical company knew at least by the mid-1980s that the early PFAS compound posed a substantial risk to human health. Meanwhile, Sandy victims in neighborhoods along the beaches like the Rockaways couldnt get food and drinkable water. Another Red Cross disaster response chief, Steve Ade, complained to a vice president, according to Rieckenberg and two other Red Cross officials. Not only do fraudulent charities steal money from patriotic Americans, they also discourage contributors from donating to real Veterans charities, he said in a statement. A seat was reserved for the Red Cross, the most important nongovernment responder. The vehicles had been sent to Staten Island at the request of the borough president to address needs in that area, the charity says. The charity said 15 vehicles were distributing supplies at a site in Staten Island where a press conference with then-Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano was held. While contamination of drinking water around military bases and factories gets most of the attention, the EPA says 80 percent of human exposure comes from consumer products in the home. When McGovern took the reins, she inherited a sprawling operation with hundreds of chapters across the country. On December 15, 2015, she pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax evasion. In response to questions about its performance after Sandy overall, the Red Cross frequently points to the total number of services it says it delivered: 17 million meals and snacks, 74,000 overnight stays in shelters, more than 7 million relief items like blankets and flashlights. People should do what they think is best for them.. In 2015, Starbucks had its own PR disaster with its "race together" campaign, which sought to help heal race relations in America through coffee cup stickers, and not much else. The ad also included a picture of a woman and the caption "Keep it clean, keep it bright. Disaster expert Richard Rieckenberg met with senior officials in October 2012 to voice his concerns. He was in charge of tracking food and, at the time, the Red Cross was already wasting three out of every 10 meals being prepared, he estimates. The Red Cross relief effort was worse than the storm.. We're celebrating 40 years of rare disease advocacy. They were the only major player not there, says police lieutenant Matthew Tiedemann, who helped run Bergen Countys response to Sandy. Red Cross officials deny the group had made decisions based on public relations. See todays top stories. Problems with PFAS surfaced partly as a result of a 1999 lawsuit by a farmer who filmed his cattle staggering, frothing and dying in a field near a DuPont disposal site in Parkersburg, West Virginia, for PFAS then used in Teflon. The National Veterans Services Fund, Inc., (formerly Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Victims, Inc.) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to educate and inform In 2016, the EPA set advisory limits without any direct enforcement for two kinds of PFAS that had recently been phased out of production in the United States. Please note that NORD provides this information for the benefit of the rare disease community. These people give veterans organizations a bad name. 1 Available by prescription only, its also the first and only digital therapeutic developed specifically to treat nightmares that is cleared by the FDA. "So far, we have removed Seals for four organizations. I think I will just cash the check. The Trump administration called the contamination "a potential public relations nightmare" earlier this year after federal toxicology studies found that some of the compounds are more hazardous than previously acknowledged. A locked padlock "That's not what you want to do when you're protecting the public health.". She also altered records to conceal her scheme and by falsely claiming that the stolen monies were being paid to veterans in need. Sandy victims were going hungry. VFW has offices across the nation, including locations on military installations to help those who have served. Rieckenberg documented his concerns in an email on Nov. 18, 2012, to Riggen, the Red Cross executive in charge of disaster operations, and later mentioned it in a December email to other top Red Cross disaster volunteers. That includes toughening up the federal Toxic Substances Control Act and regulatory mandates for the EPA itself in 2016. The Red Cross was supposed to be supplying the kitchen with propane, but the woman said it hadnt arrived. That was before testing showed it had some of the highest levels of the toxic compounds of any public water system in the U.S. "You all made me out to be a liar," Hagey, general water and sewer manager in the eastern Pennsylvania town of Warminster, told Environmental Protection Agency officials at a hearing last month. Bringing volunteers from places like Kansas and North Carolina to New York City, in some cases for the first time, led to problems. In Mississippi we were unable to open a single shelter with proper staff, materials and food resources prior to landfall, Rieckenberg wrote. Congress forced an overhaul. But while its fundraising was torrential, its disaster response was a trickle. Two weeks after Sandy hit, Red Cross Chief Executive Gail McGovern declared that the groups relief efforts had been near flawless.. According to the Red Cross, Chief Executive McGovern participated in the press conference, but Red Cross did not hold the press conference and, to be clear, it was not the reason that ERVs were sent to Staten Island. (The Red Cross did issue a press release for the event, stating that McGovern would have a media availability.), In another diversion, an emergency response vehicle was dispatched to an early December photo-op with supermodel Heidi Klum to tour affected areas with Red Cross supplies, recalled a third senior Red Cross official who requested anonymity because the official still works for the charity. Weve written about the National Veterans Services Fund before. The Red Cross has a humanitarian responsibility to provide safe shelter to all people who seek refuge in our facilities and has policies and procedures to handle a wide array of situations, including the presence of sex offenders in shelters., More generally, in response to questions from ProPublica and NPR about the Lessons Learned presentation, the Red Cross wrote, Some of the issues were corrected immediately during the response, others we are taking additional steps to improve.. The FTC announced the Operation Donate with Honor" initiative Thursday, along with other state officials and the National Association of State Charity Officials. The action led to a mass boycott of the ride sharing service and the hashtag #DeleteUber. Michigan last month ordered residents of two towns to stop drinking or cooking with their water, after PFAS were found at 20 times the EPA's 2016 advisory level. Webnational veterans service fund public relations pr nightmare. The Red Cross recruited McGovern to the top job in 2008. In 2012, your services fund will crumble and collapse. WebThe Public Relations Toolkit and resource annexes are a complete kit of easy to use media products that can be tailored to promote your American Legion post, unit or squadron activities during the course of the year. The NVSF was established to manage social services and limited medical assistance to Vietnam and Persian Gulf War veterans and their families with a focus on families with disabled children. When Rieckenberg arrived in Mississippi to help coordinate victim care, he witnessed the incident that so troubled Dunham, the emergency vehicle driver. I was so mad.. We all want to help these heroes," he said, speaking at the FTC event. Police believe that They believed the charity was up to the job. Officials at the Red Cross national headquarters stood firm over Rieckenbergs objections. According to interviews and documents, the Red Cross lacked basic supplies like food, blankets and batteries to distribute to victims in the days just after the storms. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Circuit Judge Sarah A. L. Merriam in Bridgeport to one month of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release BRYANT BERMUDEZ, 31, of East Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to offenses related to his participation in a stolen catalytic converter trafficking FRANCISCO AYALA, 22, of Ansonia, has pleaded in Hartford federal court to offenses related to his participation in a stolen catalytic converter trafficking ring. Cynthia Tanner, 54, of Darien, pleaded guilty to fraud and tax evasion after embezzling around $800,000 from the National Veterans Service Fund and using the funds to instead pay for various personal expenses for her family and family members. They directed a catering company to increase its output dramatically, from 20,000 to 220,000 meals per day. Youve got a 75-year-old emergency response vehicle driver whos got to go up 17 stories to feed a 75-year-old disaster victim. Your generosity sees to it that VFW Service Officers are available free of charge to any veteran in need of help. He was asked: Should people give money to the Red Cross? Updated 05/02/2016. HORSHAM, Pa. Lauren Woeher wonders if her 16-month-old daughter has been harmed by tap water contaminated with toxic industrial compounds used in products like nonstick cookware, carpets, firefighting foam and fast-food wrappers. Public relations nightmare. As the Red Cross internal documents note, the challenges of urban disaster response include physically grueling tasks such as walking up stairs in high rises to get to people in need. The Red Cross marshalled an army of volunteers, but many were misdirected by the charitys managers. In 2012, two massive storms pounded the United States, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless, hungry or without power for days and weeks. Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CYNTHIA TANNER, 54, formerly of Darien, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for embezzling approximately $800,000 from a Connecticut-based veterans services organization, and for failing to pay taxes on that income. One reform, the Red Cross says, moved nearly one-third of its disaster positions out of national headquarters and into the field, closer to the victims. Handicapped victims slept in their wheelchairs for days because the charity had not secured proper cots. Rieckenberg emailed his superior at national headquarters on Sept. 12, 2012, to sound the alarm. Suite 500 But according to the National Hurricane Center, at least five days before Isaac made landfall it was clear the storm would not hit Tampa. The Red Cross would have been helpful if it had offered food, water, shelter, cleaning supplies, blankets, says Rich Wieland, whose house in Toms River, New Jersey was flooded and whose neighborhood lost power for 16 days. Congress has since boosted the agency's authority to regulate problematic chemicals. "VietNow has admitted it did not fund programs assisting veterans.". But multiple officials complained that the vehicles, a crucial part of the relief efforts, were being tied up at press conferences. An official website of the United States government. The FTC and attorneys general in Florida, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohioand Oregonfiled a complaint and reached a settlement with Help the Vets, officials announced Thursday. 1900 Crown Colony Drive Even as the Trump administration says it advocates for clean air and water, it is ceding more regulation to the states and putting a hold on some regulations seen as burdensome to business. Americans get a patriotic feeling when they donate to charities that help military veterans and current service members a sentiment dozens of charities across the U.S. have exploited to scammillions of dollars in donations, a government watchdog agency says. NightWare is a digital therapeutic system that works in conjunction with Apple Watch and iPhone to disrupt nightmares related to post-traumatic stress disorder. It faced allegations of financial mismanagement after Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina and a series of chief executives were forced to resign. New York State Attorney Generals Office. Among the findings: The 50 worst charities in America devote less than 4% of donations raised to direct cash aid. From United Airlines violently removing a passenger to Pepsi, Starbucks and Chick-fil-As public faux pas. EPA testing from 2013 to 2015 found significant amounts of PFAS in public water supplies in 33 U.S. states. The cost to the Red Cross: about $7 apiece, much more than normal. Share a tip or join our reporters this Friday for a live chat. One, looking at a kind of PFAS once used in making Teflon, found a probable link with kidney and testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, hypertension in pregnant women and high cholesterol. Scheifele says he made the arrangements to have it restarted, but there was a snafu, and the Spirit of America didnt get up and running properly. Other recent studies point to immune problems in children, among other things. Those kitchen workers were forced to improvise. As a reservist, Rieckenberg was paid small sums for responding to disasters. After the meeting, Woeher questioned why it took so long to tell the public about the dangers of the compounds. The charity ultimately raised $312 million to help Sandy victims. County officials had no easy way to get in touch with Red Cross leadership to tell them about areas of need on the ground, he says. How much does average American taxpayer give to charity and why could it fall in 2018? They belong to Gail and shes going to do whatever she wants with them, referring to McGovern, the Red Cross chief executive. TANNER was ordered to pay full restitution to the NVSF, and back taxes, interest and penalties in an amount that exceeds $500,000. And then, on Oct. 29, 2012, Sandy hit New York. In Horsham and surrounding towns in eastern Pennsylvania, and at other sites around the United States, the foams once used routinely in firefighting training at military bases contained PFAS. The volunteers were told to drive around and look like youre giving disaster relief, Rieckenberg says. The stated mission of the NVSF was to provide case managed social services and limited medical assistance to Vietnam and Persian Gulf War veterans and their families, with a focus on families with disabled children. Accessibility, Amrapali Rai is a digital marketing consultant who blogs about business and marketing at, How todays growing brand imposter risks pose dangers to consumersand can fatally destroy brand reputations, 5 PR strategies to use for your new business, IPR looks back at 2022, and compiles the top PR insights of the year, 9 strategies supporting the importance of public relations in 2023, Risk management challenges: New research finds sizeable gap between C-suite and senior managers on threat of business inefficiencies. Thank you for the low-down on this organization. The meeting drew residents and officials from Horsham and other affected towns in eastern Pennsylvania, and officials from some of the other dozens of states dealing with the same contaminants. Other charities hit with legal actions by federal andstate officialsfor various fraudulent violations include Healing American Heroes, Healing Heroes Network, Operation Troop Aidand Veterans Relief Association. He encountered an older woman who was running a kitchen for the Southern Baptists. While EPA considers its next step, states are taking action to tackle PFAS contamination on their own. We would have made the same decisions if it had been a convention of chiropractors.. An internal Lessons Learned PowerPoint presentation lists hindrances to service delivery. Its first bullet point: NHQ national headquarters. Official websites use .gov U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut, Veterans Services Organization Bookkeeper Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Fraud, Tax Offenses, Canton Woman Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding HUD Section 8 Housing Program, East Hartford Man Admits Role in Catalytic Converter Theft Ring, Ansonia Man Admits Stealing and Selling Catalytic Converters. Within minutes of Pepsi unveiling a new ad starring Kendall Jenner, social media users almost unanimously came down against it, calling the protest-themed commercial tone deaf and opportunistic. During the Sandy disaster, some government officials came to resent the Red Cross. Similarly, Help the Vets operated on several names, too, officials say, includingAmerican Disabled Veterans Foundation, Military Families of America, Veterans Emergency Blood Bank, Vets Fighting Breast Cancerand Veterans Fighting Breast Cancer. The modern-day Red Cross was created by congressional charter more than a century ago and plays a unique part in responding to disasters. On Nov. 2, 2012, at the peak of the post-storm crisis, 15 were assigned to public relations duties, Rieckenberg says. Didnt Lady Gaga just donate a million dollars to you guys? she asked the Red Cross staffer. According to the U.S. attorney's office, Tanner altered records to conceal her scheme and falsely claimed the money was being paid to veterans from 2009 to 2014. Phone: 203-744-0100 Barbra Streisand. Fax Line: (203) 773- 5376. The focus on public relations persisted throughout the Sandy operation. NORD is not a medical provider or health care facility and thus can neither diagnose any disease or disorder nor endorse or recommend any specific medical treatments. This investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and Darien Police Department. They sent me a check for $2.50 with the expectation that I would send the check back with a donation. WebHealthy communities Equity, inclusion, & diversity Public policy. In addition to President Obama, Mitt Romney and Bruce Springsteen urged people to donate to the Red Cross. The Spirit of America had recently been shut down, as the need for meals was tapering off. Theodoric Meyer contributed reporting. Find the latest business news on Wall Street, jobs and the economy, the housing market, personal finance and money investments and much more on ABC News The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, However, one internal report casts doubt on the reliability of these figures: The sheer size of the disaster crippled our ability to count the number of relief items distributed, it says. Washington became the first state to ban any firefighting foam with the compound. KYIV, Ukraine Florida releases 4 prohibited math textbook examples. "As an industry today we're very forthcoming meeting any kind of regulatory requirement to disclose any kind of adverse data," said Jessica Bowman, a senior director at the American Chemistry Council trade group. The charity was not good at scaling up to the size of the disaster, said the official in charge of the Red Cross disaster response in New York, according to the minutes of the December 2012 meeting to assess the charitys performance. Laura Sullivan is a NPR News investigative correspondent whose work has cast a light on some of the countrys most disadvantaged people. We didnt have the kind of sophistication needed for this size job, noted a Red Cross vice president in the same meeting, the minutes say. While an aerial photographer was taking pictures of the California coastline When the Red Cross finally appeared weeks after the storm, volunteers were planning to distribute flashlights but discovered they had no batteries, she says. Behind closed doors, Red Cross executives acknowledged the effort was falling short. Have a question about Government Services? They consumed all their available time and went home, says Bob Scheifele, who served as mass care chief in Louisiana. He writes a regular column for the New York Timess Dealbook section. In early November, the Red Cross had a limited number of emergency response vehicles, or ERVs, active in the New York City area. Henry Betz, at 76, rattles around his house alone at night, thinking about the water his family unknowingly drank for years that was tainted by the same contaminants, and the pancreatic cancers that killed wife Betty Jean and two others in his household. In its most recent year, the Red Cross ran a $70 million budget deficit. WebUnited's latest public relations nightmare was preceded by an incident last month in which two teenagers were barred from boarding their flight because they were wearing leggings. This story was co-produced with NPR. 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In addition to targeting filing complaints against fraudulent charities, the FTC has launched aneducation campaign to help consumers make sure they are donating to legitimate charities. More:How much does average American taxpayer give to charity and why could it fall in 2018? But Peter Grevatt, director of the agency's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, told The Associated Press that there's no deadline for a decision on possible regulatory actions. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Buy some batteries with it.. Our care Health research National leaders. Its often the result of poor planning and can be caused by Staten Island pastors Daniel Delgado and John Rocco Carlo say the Red Cross didn't show up after Sandy. But staff didnt know/follow procedures, the presentation notes.
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