美国国家公共电台 NPR Red Cross Exec Doesn't Know What Portion Of Donations Go To Harvey Relief

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

And people across the country - they do want to help. So they're opening up their wallets. The American Red Cross is one of the best known aid groups. But that organization has come under a lot of scrutiny¹ after investigations³ by NPR and ProPublica and by Congress. Huge administrative⁴ costs and a failure to deliver in recent natural disasters were among the problems reported.

We reached Red Cross executive Brad Kieserman on Skype to talk about all this. He's vice⁵ president of disaster operations and logistics. Kieserman says his organization has so far spent $50 million on Harvey relief.

BRAD KIESERMAN: We've got enough shelter supplies today in theater for over 66,000 people. I put more shelter supplies down range.

CHANG: How many shelters is that for 60,000 people?

KIESERMAN: So on Tuesday evening going into Wednesday morning, we had 232 shelters throughout the state.

CHANG: So in the past, during Hurricane Isaac in 2012, the Red Cross had some issues getting supplies to the disaster. You had trucks driving around empty purely⁶ for PR purposes. Is that happening now?

KIESERMAN: Not on my watch, Ailsa. That's not going to happen. And if it does, I'm going to deal with that. We are a relief organization. For many, many people, the Red Cross is an iconic organization. And I think it's important that they see the hope that it brings. But there's a difference between people seeing hope and actually using resources in a way that helps them.

CHANG: Exactly.

KIESERMAN: And we are committed, I am committed, my team is committed to using our resources and donor⁷ dollars in a way that best helps the people of Texas.

CHANG: What is the Red Cross doing differently this time around to make sure that we don't see Red Cross truck drivers driving around empty trucks? How better are you monitoring these drivers? Or how better are you recalibrating your PR campaign so that resources aren't deployed⁸ for PR and are actually being deployed to deliver relief?

KIESERMAN: So, one, in terms of our ability to monitor our emergency response vehicle, all of those vehicles are now geocoded. So I'm actually sitting in my operations center here in Fairfax, Va., and I can look and tell you where every ERV is, where every emergency response vehicle has been. I can tell you how fast it's going and where it's going next.

CHANG: So you can monitor 300 vehicles simultaneously⁹ going around these flood areas and all of the supplies in them?

KIESERMAN: I can't tell you where every meal has gone. I can tell you where every load of meals has gone. And I can tell you where the truck loads were delivered when they came in by tractor trailer. And then I can tell you how they were distributed through either emergency response vehicles or fixed¹⁰ sites. So I think we have a much better audit¹¹ trail to show and that, of course, allows us to make sure we're better stewards¹² of those resources.

CHANG: But I just want to be very clear. I mean, you are acknowledging that during Hurricane Isaac there were empty trucks being driven around for PR purposes.

KIESERMAN: I wasn't here during Hurricane Isaac. I'm trying to remember...

CHANG: But do you have knowledge of what happened before you arrived?

KIESERMAN: I do. I have knowledge about what happened before I arrived. And so I would say this. I've read the reports. And I'll tell you why. If you do not learn from and acknowledge your mistakes, then you are never going to get better. All I know is it was reported. The fact that somebody thinks it happened - the fact that it, in fact, may indeed have happened - that is a good enough reason for me as a leader and for my team to make improvements in the system and to pay attention to those issues.

CHANG: I want to talk about donations now. The Red Cross has stated in the past that more than 90 cents on every dollar that it receives through donations goes towards relief. But our reporting and an investigation² by Congress show that a quarter of the donations for Haiti, for example, went to internal spending on management and oversight¹³. And last year, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa stated that he had substantial concerns about the Red Cross. So now how much of every dollar that the Red Cross raises - how much of that is going directly to relief? Can you answer that question?

KIESERMAN: On the average, 91 cents of every dollar that we spend is invested...

CHANG: That you spend?

KIESERMAN: That we spend.

CHANG: So I'm asking a different question. How much of every dollar that you receive through donations - that through donations - how much of every dollar donated goes to relief?

KIESERMAN: Yeah. I don't think I know the answer to that any better than the chief fundraiser knows how many emergency response vehicles I have on the road today. So I think if he was on this interview and you were asking him how many relief vehicles were in Texas, I don't think he'd know the answer. And I don't know. I don't know the answer to the financial question, I'm afraid.

CHANG: I want to return to Haiti. Our reporting showed that 25 percent of the money donated for Haiti to the American Red Cross went to internal spending. Is that still happening - such a substantial proportion of donations going to internal administrative costs rather than to relief?

KIESERMAN: It's not something I would have any visibility on. I can talk about what it cost to deliver certain relief services.

CHANG: Yeah.

KIESERMAN: But the way in which the internal revenue stream works...

CHANG: You don't know what proportion of that amount...

KIESERMAN: No. I really don't.

CHANG: You don't know what proportion of the total amount is that relief?

KIESERMAN: No, I really don't. I wish I could answer your question. But it's not something that I have visibility on in the role that I play in this organization.

CHANG: Well, do you have visibility on any efforts the organization is making to reduce the amount of money being spent solely¹⁴ on internal costs?

KIESERMAN: That I have visibility on because I can tell you that the folks that I work for are very, very attentive¹⁵ to cost effectiveness and cost efficiencies in making sure that as much of every dollar that we spend on an operation is client-facing. You know, we call the people we serve clients.

CHANG: So given the well-documented problems with the Red Cross, tell me what has changed?

KIESERMAN: One of the first things we did when it became clear that that we had issues to address was to do a root-cause analysis and to say, so why are these things happening? Why is it being reported that trucks are driving around as a public affairs marketing¹⁶ board as opposed to actually providing assistance? And what you learn is that as long as your folks who are delivering assistance understand why, then you can prevent those kind of potentially well-intentioned actions from happening.

CHANG: All right. Brad Kieserman is vice president of disaster operations and logistics for the American Red Cross. Thank you for joining us.

KIESERMAN: Thank you, Ailsa. And thanks to everybody working downrange.

1 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

4 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

7 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

12 stewards   

（轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家

参考例句：

• The stewards all wore armbands. 乘务员都戴了臂章。
• The stewards will inspect the course to see if racing is possible. 那些干事将检视赛马场看是否适宜比赛。

13 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

14 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

15 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

16 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。