Apple restarts iTunes Red Cross donations to benefit Nepal earthquake recovery

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited April 2015
In the aftermath of a series of earthquakes which have left more than 3,000 dead in Nepal, Apple has again begun soliciting donations for the American Red Cross through the iTunes Store.




By visiting a special iTunes page, customers can automatically donate to the Red Cross in denominations of $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200. Apple will pass 100 percent of the proceeds through, though they will not share contributors' personal information.

According to the page, contributions "will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to victims of all disasters."

A major earthquake struck Nepal on Saturday, and powerful aftershocks have continued to rock the small nation. The earthquake leveled huge portions of Nepalese cities, reducing numerous ancient ruins to dust and triggering avalanches on Mt. Everest.

The latest reports from Kathmandu put the death toll at 3,617.

Apple began accepting donations through iTunes for the Haitian earthquake in 2010, then opened the system again after the Japanese tsunami in 2011, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    This is not the way I heard it.

    I heard Apple deliberately delayed their Red Cross donations in order to help the Nepal earthquake recovery...
  • Reply 2 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post



    This is not the way I heard it.



    I heard Apple deliberately delayed their Red Cross donations in order to help the Nepal earthquake recovery...

     

    Really? You felt that an article about an event in which thousands of people lost their lives was the place for you to act like a smug jerk? 

  • Reply 3 of 10
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by BobJohnson View Post

     

     

    Really? You felt that an article about an event in which thousands of people lost their lives was the place for you to act like a smug jerk? 




    Really? You think when a tragedy occurs its ok to put your head down and pretend the Red Cross is benevolent organization that helps people with the money it steals receives?

  • Reply 4 of 10
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    bobjohnson wrote: »
    Really? You felt that an article about an event in which thousands of people lost their lives was the place for you to act like a smug jerk? 

    I can see why you have the word Johnson as your name.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    pmz wrote: »

    Really? You think when a tragedy occurs its ok to put your head down and pretend the Red Cross is benevolent organization that helps people with the money it steals receives?
    So in your opinion Apple should not be soliciting for them nor even cooperating with their fundraising in the first place? If not is there a better way for readers here to help out if they desire to?

    TBH this thread isn't really one that should be about Apple anyway, so yeah smug comments about them aren't really appropriate IMHO tho I don't think GTR really meant anything by it. It's just his style. IMO the goal should be help for those in Nepal so whatever gets us there.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    pmz wrote: »

    Really? You think when a tragedy occurs its ok to put your head down and pretend the Red Cross is benevolent organization that helps people with the money it steals receives?

    After my mother had a fire in her house the Red Cross were the third ones there after the firefighters, and insurance adjusters. They came with blankets, water, and other supplies. They quickly got her a hotel room, and provided her with the necessary toiletries. So yes they actually do help in time of need.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    After my mother had a fire in her house the Red Cross were the third ones there after the firefighters, and insurance adjusters. They came with blankets, water, and other supplies. They quickly got her a hotel room, and provided her with the necessary toiletries. So yes they actually do help in time of need.

    I'm glad to hear that they do help sometimes. I was in an impromptu self-organized group of volunteers in New York following September 11th 2001, and at that time the Red Cross seemed pretty useless, but to their credit, some of the Red Cross people did end up joining up with us because according to them we were more organized and effective. I guess they did distribute some of the massive donations they received to families in need at some point later on, but only a fraction (which they later defended as essentially saving the rest for a rainy day), and they seemed to be doing almost nothing for the first few weeks, while there was plenty to be done. The Red Cross' efforts during Hurricane Sandy were also widely criticized, but I wasn't as involved with that so I can only say what I've heard and read in that case.

    http://www.propublica.org/article/the-red-cross-secret-disaster

    Hopefully they're more effective in other parts of the world. If anybody knows of other organizations with a similar mission but better organized, I'd be interested to hear about them.
  • Reply 8 of 10

    There is also Care.org (www.care.org) for those who do not want to contribute via the Red Cross.

  • Reply 9 of 10
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    pmz wrote: »

    Really? You think when a tragedy occurs its ok to put your head down and pretend the Red Cross is benevolent organization that helps people with the money it steals receives?
    What an ignorant thing to say. This is about helping people in need, not about your opinions. If you don't think the Red Cross is effective, why don't you just join them and show them how to do it better.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    If you don't want to donate to the Red Cross you can view this web page that lists 7 vetted charities working to provide aid for this disaster.

     

    http://ht.ly/M7eJc

     

     

     

    FYI: Personally,  I used the iTunes link

     

    View this page to see the Red Cross expense and program donations

     

    http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277

Sign In or Register to comment.