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Government says four cancer charities are shams

azgreg

azgreg

Chicks dig the long ball
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Government says four cancer charities are shams - CNN.com


Washington (CNN)—In a rare joint action with attorneys general for each of the 50 states, the Federal Trade Commission says four cancer charities run by extended members of the same family conned donors out of $187 million from 2008 through 2012 and spent almost nothing to help actual cancer patients.

Each of the charities charged were the subject of extensive reporting by CNN in 2013. And in each instance, none of the four charities would comment. We were ordered out of the building at the Cancer Fund of America in Knoxville, Tennessee, and were the object of an obscene gesture by the CEO of The Breast Cancer Society in Mesa, Arizona.

The Cancer Fund of America is run by James Reynolds Sr. His son James Reynolds Jr. is the CEO of the Breast Cancer Society. Another charity, the Children's Cancer Fund of America, is run by Rose Perkins, the ex-wife of the elder James Reynolds. He's also the CEO of the fourth charity, Cancer Support Services.

The government says the charities claimed to provide direct support for cancer patients, breast cancer patients and children with cancer.

"These were lies," the government's complaint says.

Jessica Rich, chief of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, says that in all, the charities spent about 97% of donations they received either on private fundraisers or on themselves. Only 3%, she says, went to help actual cancer patients.
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Special place in hell for these ****s.
 
SlevinKelevra said:
not explicitly listing them all ===== FAIL
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What do you mean? The article mentions The Cancer Fund of America, The Breast Cancer Society, The Children's Cancer Fund of America, and Cancer Support Services.
 
What is the minimum a charity has to donate to still be considered a charity? Because while the article does it's level best to make their actions seem heinous, it's very light on how what happened is a crime. There's only this one paragraph...

Moreover,on their tax returns, each charity claimed millions of dollars in donated goods shipped to overseas locations on behalf of cancer patients. The complaint says the charities never owned any of the goods in question and simply paid a fee to a private firm in South Carolina to ship the goods, called gifts-in-kind. CNN went to Guatemala in early 2014 to investigate anyone who may have received those gifts and could find no evidence that they even existed.
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LowDown said:
This is pretty common among all areas of charitable giving. Be careful to whom you give money.

Inform yourselves:

Charity Navigator - America's Largest Charity Evaluator | Home

Clinton Foundation Put On Charity 'Watch List' :mrgreen:
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Interesting reading at the Charity Navigator web site.

"10 Consistently Low Rated Charities


These ten charities have earned the most consecutive 0-star, "extremely poor" ratings meaning they consistently perform far below industry standards and below nearly all similar charities.
Rank Charity Years
1 Children's Charity Fund, Inc. 10
2 Firefighters Charitable Foundation 10
3 The Committee for Missing Children 10
4 Wishing Well Foundation USA 9
5 Shiloh International Ministries 8
6 Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center 8
7 The Association for Firefighters & Paramedics 6
8 United States Deputy Sheriff's Association 6
9 California Police Youth Charities 5
10 State of Florida Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, Inc. 5"

How pathetic using names such as Children's Charity, Committee for Missing Children, and Disabled Police Officers in attempt to tug at your heart. Who in the hell are these leaches?
 
reinoe said:
What is the minimum a charity has to donate to still be considered a charity? Because while the article does it's level best to make their actions seem heinous, it's very light on how what happened is a crime. There's only this one paragraph...
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I guess we could consider the Clinton Foundation to set the pace. Any higher than that would be political.
 
Blue_State said:
I always like small and local, but with such a global encompassing issue, I can see where National/International charities have there place. Thank you for the link.
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Yes, I agree that the best sort of charity is local and personal. People would come by our church looking for help, and one of the members of the congregation was responsible for that. He'd take some time to talk to the people and find out something about them. It turned out that about half of them didn't need any help at all, they were just scamming the church. If they claimed they were hungry and needed to eat he'd take them to dinner rather than just doling out money. Some of the time they'd turn him down on that -- they didn't need to eat at all. If they needed gas money to get to Houston he'd take them to the gas station and fill up their car. Some of the time the tank was already full or near full. In all cases he would give them his witness. He'd talk to them about their lives and how they ended up where they are, what they planned to do to improve things. He'd make suggestions. All in all a completely different process from that of government welfare. It's a process that tells people that they are worth spending some time and effort on, that there are people interested and concerned about them, rather than just, "here's some money, now go away." No doubt the scammers think of it as intrusive, and it is. Men can get a free meal at the Salvation Army post any time, but some of them won't go because, "The price is too high." Yep, there is a price to be paid for Christian charity, the worst of it being that people are asked to look at their lives and think about improving themselves.
 
PeteEU said:
Not a big shocker to be honest. A lot of charities are scams..if not the majority.
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Oh, I know. What I found interesting about the article was the family connection.
 
LowDown said:
This is pretty common among all areas of charitable giving. Be careful to whom you give money.

Inform yourselves:

Charity Navigator - America's Largest Charity Evaluator | Home


Clinton Foundation Put On Charity 'Watch List' :mrgreen:
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I often use charity navigator myself before making donations.

I found it very interesting that the watch list Washington post article stated the foundation went beyond legal requirements, and experts say that the transparency level exceeds that of most philanthropies.
On February 18, 2015, The Washington Post reported that, "the foundation has won accolades from philanthropy experts and has support, with members of the George W. Bush administration often participating in its programs."
The article also states that "in posting its donor data, the foundation goes beyond legal requirements, and experts say its transparency level exceeds that of most philanthropies."
For more information: The Washington Post
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https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=311580204#.VVylq2K9KSM
 
Crosscheck said:
Interesting reading at the Charity Navigator web site.

"10 Consistently Low Rated Charities


These ten charities have earned the most consecutive 0-star, "extremely poor" ratings meaning they consistently perform far below industry standards and below nearly all similar charities.
Rank Charity Years
1 Children's Charity Fund, Inc. 10
2 Firefighters Charitable Foundation 10
3 The Committee for Missing Children 10
4 Wishing Well Foundation USA 9
5 Shiloh International Ministries 8
6 Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center 8
7 The Association for Firefighters & Paramedics 6
8 United States Deputy Sheriff's Association 6
9 California Police Youth Charities 5
10 State of Florida Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, Inc. 5"

How pathetic using names such as Children's Charity, Committee for Missing Children, and Disabled Police Officers in attempt to tug at your heart. Who in the hell are these leaches?
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they use names very similar to names people will recognize

when we were looking for a cancer fund to donate to, we did our research

we found a number that collected millions upon million of dollars, and spent 3-10% on actual charitable items

rest was spent on administration, employees, and fundraising

3-10% of millions upon millions

please do your homework....and please also let anyone you know these vipers exist, and should NEVER get a dime
 
gdgyva said:
they use names very similar to names people will recognize

when we were looking for a cancer fund to donate to, we did our research

we found a number that collected millions upon million of dollars, and spent 3-10% on actual charitable items

rest was spent on administration, employees, and fundraising

3-10% of millions upon millions

please do your homework....and please also let anyone you know these vipers exist, and should NEVER get a dime
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I'm not going to defend charity scams, but hypothetically, the % itself doesn't mean that much.

Scenario A:
charity has no advertising, doesn't pay salary to top level managers, etc.
makes $5000 in donations and converts 99% (4950) to actual charity spending

Scenario B:
charity has advertising, and pays big $ to some very successful managers
makes $5000000 in donations and converts 60% (3000000) to actual charity spending

I'm sure those receiving the charity benefit more from B, even if there is less % converted.



Now with that said, yes the system is gamed, lots of unethical bastards out there and due diligence *is* needed before donating.
 
SlevinKelevra said:
I'm not going to defend charity scams, but hypothetically, the % itself doesn't mean that much.

Scenario A:
charity has no advertising, doesn't pay salary to top level managers, etc.
makes $5000 in donations and converts 99% (4950) to actual charity spending

Scenario B:
charity has advertising, and pays big $ to some very successful managers
makes $5000000 in donations and converts 60% (3000000) to actual charity spending

I'm sure those receiving the charity benefit more from B, even if there is less % converted.



Now with that said, yes the system is gamed, lots of unethical bastards out there and due diligence *is* needed before donating.
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at 60%....that number is a little low, but could be okay

at 3-10%.....no way in hell is the charity legit

it is a scam of epic proportions

and these vile bastards are taking money away from the good charities who are doing great work
 
If you get cancer best thing to do is stay away from doctors and go on the internet and start trying alternate therapies. None of them work for everyone but one will probably work for you.
 
Is there even one honest charity in america.?
 
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