Thanks for all of the info. We may never get this cleared up, and I would agree that the ARC of today is probably a different organization than the one it was in WWII.
I was just so startled by my mother-in-law's vehemence on the subject. I knew that she was suspicious of all public do-gooder organizations (they're all guvmint plots, don't ya know) but I had no idea her attitude extended to non-profit foundations like the ARC. Come to think of it, she doesn't think much of the Salvation Army either.