Apple Donates $2.5 Million to American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy Relief

Hmmm, I didn't know that the Red Cross would actually allow anyone to specify the recipient of a donation. If this event goes like many others, the Red Cross will get a surge of donations, they will not spend that surge at the specific site or event that caused the surge, they will spread the donations around and among their ongoing relief efforts (as they see fit). The Red Cross is a great organization and I'm sure the money will be well spent, but I don't know how it will be directed toward Sandy relief.

Anyway, though this is such a minuscule percentage of Apple's cash on hand (the decimals are hard to count, but I think this is 1/1000th of 2% of Apple's cash, or thereabouts (and far less on a percentage basis than I gave tonight of my cash reserves to a Sandy relief charity at a party hosted by Susan Sarandon and Padma Lakshmi (yeah, I'm name dropping))) that I'm not sure we should really get too worked up about it. But it is a nice gesture and it is a significant amount of money. You could probably rebuild 10 of the thousands of homes which were destroyed with that kind of cash.

Don't get me wrong. Apple is a for profit company. It has no moral obligation to make donations to natural disaster relief. Silly for folks to suggest otherwise. That is what we have charities, communities and the government for.

Steve would never have allowed these to happend

Considering the dearth of complaints concerning companies who haven't donated a dime, I'd say that the act of donating actually precipitated negative feedback. Are people actually to convince corporations to not donate at all and stay out of the spotlight? Having been affected very adversely by the hurricane I appreciate the donation, and hope that when disaster strikes the grousers that they're lucky enough to benefit from another unreciprocated act of kindness. No matter how much money Apple has, $2.5 Million is still $2.5 Million.

MagnusVonMagnum said:

More than you, I'm sure.

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Its quite possible. But I am not the one complaining that Apple didnt send enough. I think its great that they donated what they did. I was only able to send a check for $500 and donate blood. its not much but Im sure it helped someone.

Great news from Apple. It's good to see this kind of thing. Even so Apple could have donated a Billion dollars and still be perfectly fine financially. That would have been even better.

In american tax law can they claim on this? How much?

To all the people criticizing Apple for not donating enough, how much have you personally donated and how much is in your bank account?

Claps

Good to hear that

dejo said:

Chrjy said:

I've pledged towards this. It always amazes me just how destructive nature can be...you get the feeling it could wipe out the human race anytime it wanted.

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Oh, it probably will...

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take "probably" out and deal

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frayne182 said:

Apple is actually thanking the Hurricane.

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Its so sad that this is TRUE

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Psycho Mantis said:

+1

Why not $1 billion? (And on and on...)

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Any amount over 100 million would have looked good.
Instead they disgust me now MORE THAN EVER BEFORE

"If you would like to donate 2.5 million to the Red Cross, just text 90999 to your phone right now." hahah

Not enough? Apple has 100 billion in cash, 2.5 million represents .0025% of that.

If you have $100,000 in the bank, you should have donated $250.

You know this is a big deal when it generates ten pages of posts, remains near the top of the heap due to the activity, and get's members commenting day after day.

For an otherwise cheap tightwad, complacent company when it comes to giving back, this "news" has the community buzzing... very revealing.

If I was one of the poor unfortunate people that was affected or displaced I would be very grateful that money had been donated to help me, no matter the amount. Well done Apple and others that have helped.

While appreciated, $2.5 million is a drop in the bucket of course.

There are something like 100,000 homes and businesses so damaged that getting them powered up again will take months. That's a contribution of about $25 each.

In NYC alone, there are an estimated 20,000 to 40,000 people who are now without shelter due to their apartments/homes being flooded. I don't know how many thousands more are in Long Island or New Jersey.

FEMA has already given out $440 million, mostly for temporary housing rentals.

It was and is a large disaster.

Markiie said:

This is disgusting. 2.5 million for a company that has 100 plus BILLION in CASH! All you people saying its nice of apple have no logic for money and how much apple is really worth. You are talking about one of the biggest disasters in US History and apple throws a little 2.5 million dollar check on the table and says "ok we did our part"

Like someone mention earlier this is pennies. It's almost sad in the sense that most of the people who were effected own apple products and the best apple can do is 2.5 million? Yet they spent 3 BILLION to bail out Sharp a non US company?

Sorry guys you won't find a bigger fan of their products as me but their business motto and how they are starting to operate is really getting annoying.

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xanagu said:

take "probably" out and deal

Any amount over 100 million would have looked good.
Instead they disgust me now MORE THAN EVER BEFORE

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You don't know what you are talking about. But it's ok. A company must do right by it's shareholders and no one else.

Nice move by Apple. I don't think Apple had ever donated anything to charity under Steve Jobs. Now this is a very different under Tim Cook

osaga said:

Not enough? Apple has 100 billion in cash, 2.5 million represents .0025% of that.

If you have $100,000 in the bank, you should have donated $250.

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Well Apple is a bit short after dropping on the Stock Market. Plus they are paying 21 million dollars to have a stupid clock face in IOS. 2.5 is better than nothing under Jobs, but seriously?

Thank you for calling it Hurricane Sandy. Not Superstorm Sandy.

sweetbrat said:

So people complain that Apple doesn't make a donation. Then Apple does make a donation, and people complain that they did it too publicly. Well, if it wasn't made public then you would all still be complaining that they didn't give anything.

Apple gives 2.5 million dollars. That's not enough, so people complain. If they'd given more, investors would be screaming that Apple was giving away all their money.

The point is, nothing can ever please everyone. Someone will always be pissed off, think it wasn't good enough, think it wasn't done for the right reason.

Seriously folks...sure, some of this is PR. It is when any company makes a large donation. But that doesn't mean there aren't genuine sentiments behind it. And the fact remains that, no matter the reason behind it, that money goes to help people in need. Instead of whining, complaining and bickering, I'd encourage those who can to go make a donation themselves. Take a look at your life, what you have, how fortunate you are. Whether you give a little or a lot, it adds up, and it helps. Go do something to help someone today instead of sitting in front of your computer complaining about how someone else wasn't generous enough.

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Thank you for some sensibility, this is exactly what I wanted to say.

Donated only $2.5 million? That's like Donald Trump donating 10 cents then making it a big deal all over the internet.

gnasher729 said:

Your maths is wrong.

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Your grammar is wrong.

Honestly this isn't something to be taken for granted, 2.5M is 2.5M..

but really, I think Apple is doing this to make their name sound better rather than to do a good cause, this is less than pocket change for the world's biggest company. Sort of like how Mitt Romney would sit in coach-class seats on airplanes to try to show he can relate to the everyday person even though he really didn't care..

I mean honestly, Donald Trump, a PERSON worth about 3 billion, donated 5million to Hurricane Sandy, and this is Donald Trump.... Apple, a COMPANY who has about $100 billion donated only half of that?

Don't say they "shouldn't waste money" or whatever its not a waste. And don't say "just because they have the money doesn't mean they have an obligation to donate", because I think they do. They are essentially an American Company with more money than they know what to do with, and they should be able to give some more because I personally know people who are still suffering despite this donation and as both presidential candidates have said, when a natural disaster like this hits, we all come together in America to help out.

That being said, I don't want to sound ungrateful and the Red Cross does now have $2,500,000 more than they did before.

edit: I was reading some earlier comments, if any investor is "screaming at apple" for donating too much money, then that person is an ass and if I were Apple, I'd give them their money back and tell them to go "f" themself.

MacFan782040 said:

Thank you for calling it Hurricane Sandy. Not Superstorm Sandy.

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Yeah. Isn't exactly a superstorm, it's wimpy compared to the likes of Wilma, Katrina and even Ike.

samcraig said:

Fact is - lives were lost. Homes destroyed. People still without power, water and even food. They are in need too. It's sickening for someone to suggest that because they lived in a coastal area they should have known better. Maybe those people are unfamiliar with the geography and the people who live there. Because it's such an incredible ignorant comment to make.

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Agreed. And others on this forum need to stop dissing Apple for giving $2.5M and suggesting Apple should have given more money. $2.5M will buy a lot of supplies, food, etc. There are many people that do not donate a proportional amount from their own bank accounts.

I have a pretty low opinion of Apple as far as ethics go in most cases.

In this case though they have donated $2.5million to charity. I will never say anything negative about anyone giving to charity and Apple should be applauded for this.