Technology | American Red Cross $22M in Haiti Texts Revive Red Cross Fundraising bonanza hits formerly cash-strapped charity By Kevin Spak Posted Jan 19, 2010 12:23 PM CST Copied In a Jan. 18, 2010 photo provided by the American Red Cross, Suzanne Puzo, a Canadian Red Cross nurse, removes bandages on Danise Diverge, 10, in Croix Des Prez, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. (AP Photo/American Red Cross, Talia Frenkel) The American Red Cross, which only a year ago turned to the government for a bailout, is now awash in donations thanks to an outpouring of generosity for the Haiti quake victims. The organization had pulled in $103 million as of late Sunday, with $22 million of that coming via text. “I need a better word than ‘unprecedented or ‘amazing’ to describe what’s happened with the text-messaging program,” a spokesman says. All the giving comes despite controversies over the Cross’ handling of Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks, when the organization struggled to distribute donations effectively, the New York Times points out. “The Red Cross is simply the default group for donors when a disaster like this occurs,” says the head of another relief organization. “They Hoover up all the private funds.” The Red Cross, aware of the controversies, is promising total transparency in Haiti. Read These Next North Carolina shooting suspect once walked the red carpet. The gunman who killed 4 at a Michigan church was an ex-marine. 'We heard a big bang,' says churchgoer in Michigan Skydivers leap from plane 2 minutes before fatal crash. Report an error