Disaster Relief is my biggest pet peeve with Watchtower.
All agencies have administrative costs, and some agencies have way too much overhead with celebrity and high paid spokespeople. Watchtower is not as efficient and effective as the Red Cross, but they easily convince the members that they are the absolute best at disaster relief.
So they are not really high paid people and the actual people who go to the disaster are mostly unpaid volunteers. But Watchtower has honed their disaster relief begging to get money for non-relief funds. They ask members to stop donating "stuff" and they ask that they only donate money to the worldwide work, and tell them not to earmark their checks toward the specific disaster relief. Just put more money in the slush fund and Watchtower will decide how much to give to the disaster.
Further, Watchtower will arrange for connected members to be the suppliers and contractors for the disaster, and of course they are able to charge for their equipment and materials.
Hey, is Watchtower better or worse than Wounded Warrior Project? I could list the problems with that organization about lavish spending on big events and airfare. But Watchtower uses something that Wounded Warrior or the Red Cross don't have available to them- convincing people from the pulpit that God is running their charity, and by-the-way, telling them it's not even a "charity."
Disaster Relief Funds
by StephaneLaliberte 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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OnTheWayOut
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road to nowhere
what recourse do you have if the work done by volunteers is substandard? And be sure that the little old lady across the street who got a roof even while not being a witness will get a big mention. but not all the ones turned away.
They will not even coordinate what food/material distribution they do with any other relief workers so (as they say) "nothing is wasted".
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road to nowhere
I looked at the JW.Org "news". All the disasters have help being provided by "3 near by congregations", "local brothers", "housed in homes of other publishers", "tree removal crews", under direction of the branch(es). Spiritual upbilding is being provided by CO's and others. Not one penny can you find that the society has sent to do anything; maybe the best you may find is a mobile kitchen and bathroom setup being used, if it wasn't sold during the RBC auction.
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OnTheWayOut
"tree removal crews", under direction of the branch(es).
Ha. I imagined the tree branches directing the workers.
Seriously, despite most everything being done by local brothers, I still bet they readca letter about donating for relief in congregations across the country.
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Anony Mous
I don’t know if anyone still has the RBC documents I posted years ago, but it’s made very clear that WT tries to get the insurance money from their “brothers and sisters”
How it works: the WTBTS will assist their people in rebuilding using volunteer work and donations. They then send an invoice to the insurance company using one of their contractor companies (they are licensed contractors, electrician companies etc) and collect the money.
One of the letters actually instructs elders that their “flock” should not communicate with or attempt to get the insurance to send them checks after WTBTS helped them because that would be considered defrauding the insurance and stealing from the org.