Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the American Red Cross has raised over $500 million for its Liberty Fund, a special account created for the victims and families of the victims of the attacks. That is quite a daunting figure, so why is the Red Cross currently facing heavy criticism?

In the weeks after the donations began pouring in, criticism began to surface about how the organization was handling its fund raising since Sept. 11.

Not all of the money collected for the Liberty Fund will be going to the families of the victims, as was expected by many who gave donations.

By establishing a separate fund, the Red Cross appears to have created expectations that the victims and their families would be receiving all Liberty Fund donations.

Red Cross President Bernadine Healy, who created the Liberty Fund, resigned Oct. 26 amid such questions, claiming that she was forced out by those in the organization who disagreed with the way she felt donation money should be distributed. Healy strongly opposed the mingling of Liberty Fund money with any other Red Cross disaster funds.

And that is what is happening.

The Red Cross acknowledged that a portion of the Liberty Fund money will go to other needs within the organization, from improving blood reserve program services to a national telecommunications upgrade.

As of right now, less than $50 million of the over $500 million has gone to the victims and their families.

And the Red Cross said that only $100 million of the fund was needed for direct financial aid to victims and victims’ families, yet it continued raising money for the Liberty Fund until Oct. 30.

While it may be (as the Red Cross claimed) that it received far more money than it knew what to do with, it is questionable whether people who gave money thinking it would go directly to victims and their families would have their wishes met or not.

Why not close the Liberty Fund earlier? And why create the separate fund at all?

The Red Cross isn’t out to scam the American public. Its massive fund-raising undertaking should be commended, and the nation’s best interests are at heart. That being said, this specific fund was set up to give aid to victims and their families. People who donated money donated for that reason. Diverting that money anywhere else is less than honest.

When a person donates to a charitable organization it is under the assumption that the charity will use the money as it sees fit. But this case had a specific cause and a specific fund was set up.

The Red Cross didn’t clearly define how it planned to distribute Liberty Fund money, and as a result the public has every right to feel misled.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Zach Calef, Omar Tesdell