Column

Saying no to family won't help Red Cross

By C.T. BOWEN, Editor of Editorials
Published December 14, 2007

Kathleen Oringer hugs her grandson Sean Sehlough, 16, after the funeral of her husband, Stewart. The family asked the Red Cross for help after his death and was referred to the United Way.
	[David Degner | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Handout] Stewart Oringer Sr., right, was a 20-year volunteer for the Red Cross.

We all have heard the appeals. We need toys. We need food. We need to help the less fortunate. It is a holiday tradition.

Yet at a time of year nonprofit agencies are seeking to warm our hearts, the local chapter of a national charity is turning a cold shoulder to the family of a longtime volunteer.

Stewart "Chuck" Oringer Sr. volunteered for the American Red Cross for 20 years. He once stood so long at a Pasco storm shelter that he got blisters on his feet. He helped families burned out of their homes and kept supplies ready during hurricanes.

That mattered little to the Red Cross. As Times staff writer Jodie Tillman reported, the agency rejected the family's assistance request following Oringer's death last week. He died at age 65 after years of battling heart and lung disease.

The local chapter sent the family elsewhere, saying the Red Cross only assists in disasters like fires and storms. A cash crunch brought on by the loss of the family patriarch is somebody else's bailiwick. That response can be rationalized, if not particularly embraced. At least they dug out the telephone number for the United Way for Oringer's family.

Patty Yeager, the chief financial officer of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross, says the agency also offered to contact volunteers who worked with Oringer and a manager even offered to cook the family a meal. The family, she said, got angry and walked out.

Here's why: The agency denied a family request to put a donation jar in the Red Cross office so others could contribute. The reason? The Red Cross said if can't show favoritism. If it did it for the Oringer family, it would have to do it for everybody.

Well, at least the people who donated 155,000 hours of time to the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross last year know where they stand. Don't expect preferential treatment.

Not deviating from its federally authorized mission is understandable, but forgoing the donation jar is an unconscionable payback for someone who gave his time and energy over two decades to helping others.

It is a bureaucratic-driven gaffe that overshadows the good work the Red Cross does assisting families in emergencies. The Red Cross thinks this newspaper should be focusing on that.The Tampa Bay Chapter, serving Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas, is helping a record number of families burned out of homes, according to a spokeswoman. Why don't we tell about the certified volunteers doing those good deeds?

Frankly, we are. That is what Stewart Oringer did for 20 years, even though he had been inactive with the local chapter for the past five years.

And the insensitivity shown toward Oringer doesn't help the continuing effort of the Red Cross to rebuild public confidence in its competency.

The agency is charged by Congress to coordinate charitable responses to national catastrophes. This week, it opened shelters in the Midwest after ice storms cut electrical service to parts of Oklahoma, and it was lauded by its work during the Southern California wildfires.

In past years, however, it was criticized for its handling of contributions following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and its response to Hurricane Katrina. The revolving door at its chief executive office also continues after the national board forced its president to resign in November because of an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.

Locally, the Red Cross should think about its relationships with its volunteers. It would do well to emulate the lead of the Community Emergency Response Team for which Oringer also volunteered. Its members delivered food to feed the family and mourners the morning of the funeral.

Sure beats telling a grieving family, "Call someone who cares."

[Last modified December 13, 2007, 20:49:14]