Fox New Channel's Bill O'Reilly, who's been critical of how the American Red Cross handled donations after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, spoke at a benefit for the Kansas City, Mo., chapter of the emergency relief group.
O'Reilly drew a distinction Monday between the Kansas City chapter and the national Red Cross, which has drawn the bulk of his comments on his show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
O'Reilly also praised the Red Cross for the good things it does.
About 600 people paid between $100 and $1,000 to hear him speak at one of the biggest fund-raisers for the local chapter. The money will pay for disaster relief in Kansas City. The American Red Cross announced last month that not all the $560 million it has raised for the Liberty Disaster Relief Fund would go to victims of the attacks. More than $200 million will be held in reserve in case it is needed for other terrorist attacks.
O'Reilly said donors were misled into thinking that all their donations would go directly to families of those killed Sept. 11. He also said many families were confused about where they could get help, because other charities had not contacted them or advertised.
"We're not asking them to dump wheelbarrows of money in their front yards," O'Reilly said.
The 37,000-employee American Red Cross administers almost half the nation's blood supply and provides relief to victims of disasters.