Guest Post by Morbo
It took me three days to track down my nephew and his family, residents of suburban New Orleans who had fled the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. They left with $200 and a few overnight bags, figuring they would be back in two or three days — then the levee broke.
I found my nephew, his wife and their kids in a La Quinta Inn in Baytown, Texas. In a sense, he’s lucky. My large extended family is pulling together and collecting money. My nephew and his family plan to stay in Baytown for at least six months, and we intend to see all of them through.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a family network like that. The stories coming out of New Orleans are gut-wrenching. Please help if you can. If you’re well off, send a lot. If you’re not, send a little and know that every bit helps.
But please don’t send one dime to Operation Blessing. I was appalled to see this alleged “charity” named on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list of charities that are helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
For those of you who have never heard of it, Operating Blessing is a project of TV preacher Pat Robertson, whose kooky antics have been dissected elsewhere on this page. It claims to be a legitimate charity but has been accused of ethical lapses.
In April of 1997, two pilots who worked for Operation Blessing reported that planes owned by the alleged charity were used mostly to transport equipment for a Robertson-owned diamond-mining operation in Africa. One pilot told the Virginian-Pilot that of the 40 flights he undertook to Zaire, “only one or at most two” were humanitarian in nature. The rest, he said, were “mining-related.”
Robertson argues that he was cleared of wrong-doing. The fact is, the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs wanted to prosecute him for making deceptive appeals. In one case, the office noted that Robertson told viewers of his “700 Club” about a “medical strike force” going into towns in Zaire to transport “doctors and medicine back and forth.” Operation Blessing did have doctors in the area, but no planes were ferrying them around. In fact, the aircraft were being used to transport mining equipment.
Noted the Office in a report:
Pat Robertson made material claims, via television appeals, regarding the relief efforts. These statements are refuted by the evidence in this case and thereby suggest a violation of the…law’s prohibition against obtaining money by any misrepresentation or misleading statement.
Why wasn’t Robertson busted? Two Robertson cronies, Gov. James Gilmore and Attorney General Mark Earley, were in office then and they put a stop to the investigation. Robertson had donated to both of their campaigns. Not surprisingly, Gilmore and Earley were not eager to move against him.
The Virginian-Pilot’s Bill Sizemore did a long, devastating story about the accusations against the charity (which, unfortunately, isn’t online anymore). Robertson was livid and threatened litigation. But the Pilot pointed out in an editorial that Robertson could not claim vindication.
The newspaper noted that Robertson reimbursed Operation Blessing for using its plans to haul mining equipment — but only two months after the official investigation began.
That was three years after the expenses were incurred. If this gives no grounds for prosecution, it surely affords none, either, for Robertson’s aggrieved self-righteousness.
I should also note that Operation Blessing staffers have been accused of inappropriate forms of proselytizing during relief efforts. In 1994, an American aide worker in Rwanda told Time magazine, “They [OB staffers] were laying on hands, speaking in tongues and holding services while people were dying all around.”
FEMA officials ought to be ashamed for including Operating Blessing among the list of recommended charities. Do what you can to help the hurricane victims. Send a check to a reputable charity. Then take one additional step: Please spread the word to your friends and neighbors so they know not to waste one dime on Operation Blessing.