OCR Text |
Show OGDEN CITY, UTAH, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1952 Under the watchful eye of Nurse Beatrice McCharg,( right), four donors take it easy after giving blood at special mobile unit. Left to right are F k Olson, Leslie Black, R. O. Bitjs and Mrs. Leslie Black. They are instruct lie down for 10 minutes and sit up for five. Ogden Elks Give 63 Pints of Blood To Mobile Unit Sixty-three pints of blood were donated by members of the Ogden , Elk's lodge during the first visit; of a special mobile unit from' the intermountain regional blood cen¬ter in Salt Lake City. The blood was given yesterday while the special mobile unit was parked in the rear of the lodge. It is expected the unit" will make a return trip to Ogden sometime during the first part of April. Mrs. H. R. Merman, chair mart of the Weber county chapter blood procurement committee said it was felt the visit of the unit was "very successful." She said 22 volunteer workers from the local chapter assisted the staff doctor and five nurses of the unit. These included Grey Ladies, nurses' aids, canteen workers and j staff aids. The special 10-bed mobile unit is expected to make visits through¬out the state. All blood collected is for military purposes, it was stressed. Blood pressure’s OK. Dr. Elvon G. Jackson tells Walter Degn who is about to donate blood in the special mobile unit stationed at the Elks' home yesterday. June 3 Flood Aid Deadline June 3 is the deadline for appli¬cation to the Red Cross for flood damage aid. Mrs. Katherine Hall Chambers, disaster field representative from the Pacific Area office, San Fran¬cisco, who has been assigned to assist Weber county chapter ii^ disaster relief operation, said fami¬lies affected by the disaster who are unable to meet their disaster^ caused needs, will find the Red Cross willing to help them. She stressed that any assistance extended by the Red Cross is an outright gift to disaster victims from the American people through , their contributions to the Red I Cross. Any disaster victim needing as¬sistance is requested to contact the chapter at 1961 Washington Blvd., telephone 3-J3601, prior to June 3, in order that an appoint¬ment for an interview may be made, Mrs. Leah Greenwell, man¬ager of the local chapter, said The Red Cross, Pro and Con The Mirror of Public Opinion Organisation is criticised for asking funds to meet flood relief needs; "huge surplus" cited; president replies there is no surplus; , says uncommitted reserve, held for war and other emergency use around world, must be drawn on to meet current budget. Two Letters to the Post-Dispatch To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: I am shocked to hear, read and see the American Red Cross again hammering away at a generous-giving American pub¬lic for funds, this time using the tragic Kansas-Missouri floods as its pretext. Red Cross President Harriman says that the Red Cross cannot now help people on their farms and in their homes "with funds now on hand." Let's look at the record. This past April the Red Cross com¬pleted a generally successful national cam¬paign for $85,000,000. Where is the money? In the Red Cross report ending June 30, 1950. the Red Cross reported a surplus of almost $100,000,000. This sur¬plus consisted of: $68,270,987.94 in Government bonds. $23,070,882.80 in common stocks and bonds. $4,954,933.99 in cash. In addition to this huge surplus, the Red Cross" has in its retirement fund $16,613,538.83 in common stocks, bonds and preferred stocks. This fund came mainly from campaign contributions. It is far in excess of the retirement fund needs of the organization. Now because of a national emergency the Red Cross is Johnny on the spot, hat in hand, begging for funds. Why? Why isn't some of the huge surplus used? It was collected ostensibly for relief. With a Broken Hear£? The United States Government has just contributed $25,000,000 for flood relief. The Red Cross broke its heart and author¬ized the expenditure of $250,000. Much of this paltry sum will be returned, for the Red Cross often asks for return of funds given to those in distress. While the Red Cross performs many useful services for the nation and its thousands of volunteers do excellent work, someone nevertheless is perpetrating a gigantic hoax on the American public in the name of the sufferers of the recent floods when the American public is being asked for $5,000,000 for flood relief. The time is long past when an account¬ing is due the contributing public to Red Cross funds. Who is kidding whom? Washington, D.C. LOU BROTT. To the Editor of the Post-Dispatch: I appreciate your kindness in offering me the opportunity to reply to the attack upon this organization which appears in a . letter over the signature of Mr. Lou Brott. trust that those who read his state- will find they deserve no credence. For instance, he quotes figures which he has picked out at random from the bal¬ance sheet of the organization included in its annual report for June 30, 1950, without giving any explanation as to what they represent or how they are offset by budgetary requirements and commitments. W hat "Surplus'" Is For Mi- Brott puts Ms-own label on these asset items, calling them "surplus." The same balance sheet shows that the na¬tional Organization had but $23,864,099.92 uncommitted funds as o£ June 30 1950 ®se, uncommitted funds ,are a reserve against war emergencies and the normal °Pertftions of the organization around the world; $4,000,000 of these funds were upon during the fiscal year ending 30, 1951, as a result of the outbreak "^hostilities in Korea. The $23,070,882.80 in common stocks bonds, referred to in Mr. Brott's statement, represents the holdings in the endowment fund of the organization which has been created over many $ears, largely /through bequests to the organization by J* its friends. Only the income of such funds is available for current expenditures. The $16,500,000 referred to in Mr. Brott's statement as a huge surplus in V the organization's retirement fund repre¬sents a 16-year accumulation of the con¬tributions of its employes, and matching contributions by the organization, for the old-age retirement of its employes. This fund is not a part of the resources of the organization, but has been established to provide a certain degree of security for its. employes by an independent board of trustees. One of the country's outstanding consulting actuaries determines annually the amount of the funds required for this purpose. Mr. Brott's comment as to the adequacy or inadequacy of these funds causes me to question his competency. It's "Plain Nonsense" Mr. Brott's reference to approximately $35,000,000 as the annual budget of the national organization and relating that figure to the so-called $100,000,000 surplus is plain nonsense, for the reason that no such surplus funds exist. Eighty-five million dollars referred to by Mr. Brott as the fund goal for the Red Cross campaign last spring is one item in his letter that is correct Actually, the organization expects to receive approxi-mately $78,000,000 from that campaign. Approximately $34,000,000 from this campaign will be used to finance in part the organization's operat the fiscal year beginning July 1, and ending June 30, 1952. The bale be used to finance the activities of local Red Cross chapters throughout country. The total estimated budget of the na¬tional organization for the current fiscal year amounts to approximately $42,500,000. In other words, the organization will have to apply approximately $9,000,000 of its uncommitted funds to cover its expenses for the current year. This is due to the greatly expanded increase in the Armed Forces, the blood program of the organi¬zation, and the continuing conflict in Korea. Outside of the Budget Finally, the $25,000,000 for flood relief appropriated by the Government has nothing whatsoever to do with the disaster relief program of the Red Cross, directed toward meeting the minimum needs of some 24,000 families affected by the re¬cent floods in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Illinois. The Red Cross has $4,000,000 in its current year's budget for disaster relief operations. All, or a large portion', of this will be required to meet the relief needs of the disaster victims in the four states, in addition to such funds as the organization may secure from its $5,000,000 appeal. The Red Cross annually called upon to extend relief on some 200 to 300 differ¬ent disasters. Funds to meet these needs for the current fiscal year will have to be found outside of the organization's cur¬rent year's budget. Men and women elected by the chapters of the Red Cross compose the majority membership of the management body of the organization, namely, the board of governors. These men and women are dr-awn from all sections of the country and different sizes of communities. They rep¬resent leaders in Red Cross work and national interests throughout the country, and I am confident that the people have no reason to doubt the sincerity, ability, honesty and patriotism of these men and women in the management of the affairs of the Red Cross. E. ROLAND HARRIMAN, President, American National Red Cross. Washington, D.C. |