Woman Claims She Was ‘Astonished at the Behavior of the Red Cross’ After Bringing 400 Burgers to Harvey Victims

On Saturday, a Facebook user identified as a pregnant Texas woman publicly aired her grievances with the Red Cross after two of its representatives allegedly “berated” her for trying to provide 400 warm hamburgers to evacuees housed at Jack Brooks Regional Airport near Port Arthur, Texas.

The post, which had been shared more than 64,000 times as of Monday evening, alleges that Lindsey Scott and an unnamed pilot who “donated his time, fuel, money, plane, and arranged the delivery of the burgers,” arrived at the airport-turned-shelter to provide those stranded by the storm with a hot meal. According to Scott, two unnamed Red Cross representatives told her that the gesture was unnecessary because the evacuees “already had a sandwich.”

“Yes, they had one sandwich in 24 hours,” Scott wrote.

Members of the Red Cross then allegedly attempted to place the warm burgers into an ice chest, which prompted Scott to stand in shock, “mouth gaping open and fighting back tears.”

Scott, who had spent the early hours of the day aiding in the transportation and reception of supplies and materials provided by the Sky Hope Network, was perturbed by Red Cross representatives’ alleged treatment of the community upon their arrival.

“The Red Cross was not there at 6:30 am when we got there to find we had no food to serve the 100s of evacuees who had sat on a bus all night and some who had not eaten in 24 hours. They were not there when the sun came up and they woke up hungry, angry, tired, scared, and frustrated. They did not see them fighting over donuts that OUR friends and family answered the call to bring at 7:00 am,” Scott wrote in a post on her sister’s Facebook page.

Scott acknowledged that while she was not disturbed by the Red Cross’ delayed arrival into the area, she was caught off guard by the behavior some members displayed upon their arrival.

She referenced a second incident in which Red Cross members allegedly attempted to prevent local community members from distributing their donations to those in need, instead requesting all items be “shipped to their warehouse for processing and distribution.”

“We need these things here, locally, NOW. And while we refused to turn away anyone who came on foot or by other means (evacuee or not) or any other church, group, or organization asking for supplies…the Red Cross tried to prevent us from sharing OUR donations,” wrote Scott.

Scott attempted to separate the actions of the two Red Cross representatives from the organization as a whole.

“I pray this is not representative of the Red Cross organization as a whole. People who donate their money would be horrified.”

The Texas woman made sure to emphasize the tireless effort put forth by the Sky Hope Network, Republican State Rep. Dade Phelan, and local community volunteers. Scott ended her statement with an emphatic homage to the people of Texas.

“Our men may spit, smoke, dip, cuss, and drink from time to time…but when the s— hits the fan, our husbands, brothers, dads, uncles, cousins, sons, and all the other men we know put on their boots, waders and get their boats and trucks and go to work!” Scott wrote. “And our community will answer the call to donate, collect and distribute supplies and food wherever it’s needed. I won’t be waiting on the Red Cross.” (For more from the author of “Woman Claims She Was ‘Astonished at the Behavior of the Red Cross’ After Bringing 400 Burgers to Harvey Victims” please click HERE)

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