Apple pledges $1M to Red Cross as Hurricane Florence makes landfall

Posted:
in General Discussion
Apple will be donating $1 million to the American Red Cross to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which is still pounding the U.S. east coast.

American Red Cross


"The Carolinas are in our hearts," CEO Tim Cook said on Twitter in announcing the donation. "To our employees there, first responders and everyone in Hurricane Florence's path, please stay safe."

The storm hit the coast in earnest around 7:15 Eastern time on Friday after having sat off the coast for an extended period of time. Initially rated a Category 4, it has since degraded to Category 1, but it's expected to assault the Carolinas with rain and surge for at least another 24 hours, and has already forced over 26,000 people into shelters. Many homes are underwater, and winds may be reaching up to 85 miles per hour or more.

The American Red Cross is Apple's most common charity of choice outside of (Red). In August, for instance, it opened up iTunes donations to the organization for California's wildfires. In fact the company has done the same for past hurricanes, such as last year's Harvey.

It has sometimes drawn criticism for favoring the Red Cross, and also for donating relatively small amounts to charity relative to its revenue. The company generates billions in profits every quarter, yet in 2017 it said that the year's sales of (Product)Red goods -- including special editions of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus -- had only contributed somewhere over $30 million to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    They’re donating to an American cause for once. That’s a nice gesture.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    cornchip
  • Reply 4 of 16
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Apple is being excoriated over this donation on Apple hating site MacRumors. The haters are calling it a PR disaster and that $1 million is a pitiful response by Apple. Haters have literally taken over the site to trash Apple on every single thing they do. How do these idiots keep it up for so long?
    racerhomie3randominternetpersoncornchip
  • Reply 5 of 16
    lkrupp said:
    Apple is being excoriated over this donation on Apple hating site MacRumors. The haters are calling it a PR disaster and that $1 million is a pitiful response by Apple. Haters have literally taken over the site to trash Apple on every single thing they do. How do these idiots keep it up for so long?
    I was reading the comments on MacRumors after the iPhone announcement. Pretty much everyone was bashing Apple and saying there is nothing new with the phone. 
    zozano24cornchip
  • Reply 6 of 16
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    A nuclear bomb wouldn't work. 

    https://www.livescience.com/24383-can-you-stop-a-hurricane-by-nuking-it.html
    zozano24cornchip
  • Reply 7 of 16
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    A nuclear bomb wouldn't work. 

    https://www.livescience.com/24383-can-you-stop-a-hurricane-by-nuking-it.html
    Good to know?
  • Reply 8 of 16
    A million is about what Apple mak s every 15 seconds or so?
    cornchip
  • Reply 9 of 16
    tyler82tyler82 Posts: 1,100member
    Why can't the bible belt get by on thoughts and prayers instead?
    dewmesingularityGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 10 of 16
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    A nuclear bomb wouldn't work. 

    https://www.livescience.com/24383-can-you-stop-a-hurricane-by-nuking-it.html
    "A fully developed hurricane releases 50 or more terawatts of heat energy at any given moment, only about 1 percent of which is converted into wind. The heat release, Landsea wrote, "is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes."  The entire human race in 2011 used about a third of the energy present in an average hurricane."

    Wow! Mother nature laughs in the general direction of our puny devices.
  • Reply 11 of 16
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,243member
    CobraGuy said:
    A million is about what Apple mak s every 15 seconds or so?
    So what if they are. How much is Google donating? Facebook? General Motors? Walmart? Amazon? 
    FEMA has a disaster budget of 25 Billion dollars... should be plenty. 
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Thanks Apple. I hate the Macrumors comment section. So filled with hatred .
  • Reply 13 of 16
    Not to marginalize what Apple is doing or to denigrate the Red Cross, but:

    None of this money will go to this hurricane!
    The Red Cross is on the front lines and, when a disaster strikes they need to be in there, up and running quickly -- like within days, sometimes hours.  

    There is no time for them to solicit donations, receive those donations then go out and buy the supplies and infrastructure they need to care for those affected by the disaster and then ship it in and get it set up.   But yet, personal and corporate donations typically respond only to current disasters.

    So, what happens is; the funds the Red Cross raises for "this" disaster are usually used to fund the response to the "next" disaster.

    In any event, Thank You Red Cross and Thank You Apple!
  • Reply 14 of 16
    Thanks Apple. I hate the Macrumors comment section. So filled with hatred .
    Not exactly true.

    Lots of non Apple hate here.
    singularity
  • Reply 15 of 16
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    A nuclear bomb wouldn't work. 

    https://www.livescience.com/24383-can-you-stop-a-hurricane-by-nuking-it.html
    Good to know?
    I guess so. That article is pretty interesting. I was curious to know the answer when you wrote your comment and I found that article. 
    edited September 2018
  • Reply 16 of 16
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    ascii said:
    There needs to be some sort of technology where you can set off an explosion in the middle of a hurricane (when it is out to sea), to disrupt the air flow and dissipate it before it makes landfall.
    I suppose a nuclear bomb would do it, but then you've got radiation spreading throughout the world.
    A nuclear bomb wouldn't work. 

    https://www.livescience.com/24383-can-you-stop-a-hurricane-by-nuking-it.html

    The entire human race in 2011 used about a third of the energy present in an average hurricane.”

    Jeez! Maybe we could figure out how to harness some of that energy? 


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