Red Cross Chief Says 2011 Overhaul Has Not Damaged Mission

The head of the American Red Cross said the aid charity’s response to an unprecedented series of national disasters this year shows its work has not been impaired by a national reorganization that involved cutting hundreds of jobs and merging or shuttering local offices, the Associated Press writes.

“If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind that we would be able to fulfill the mission, that doubt was removed,” Red Cross President Gail McGovern said. “If anything, we’re doing it better.”

Moving to head off a projected deficit, the 130-year-old charity eliminated more than 1,500 jobs during 2011, and the national organization took control of local fund raising in a bid to spend more strategically. The Red Cross also merged or consolidated numerous chapters, bruising feelings in some communities.

Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, praised the Red Cross for making what he termed necessary changes in local operations. “It’s exactly the right thing to do, but it is extremely controversial,” he said. “Each one of these chapters has its own identity. Closing one is like closing the local library.”