Don Imus's Ranch For Sick Children Draws Scrutiny: Charity Spent $2.6 Million Last Year on 100 Kids

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 24, 2005 | Robert Frank

[Liberty Valance]

"Right now I can't work up indignation or much curiosity about Imus. At least he is helping someone and not starving someone."

Great post. It is a pleasant change.

:o)

[Hildy]

That's not the point. You raise money from people to build this, everything is tax exempt, you don't report your finances properly and then you use it for own personal pleasure 70% of the time. I don't think this investigation is out of bounds.

[Hildy]

BOMBED at the dinner? HE WAS GREAT!!! He insulted the Clintons so badly it was fabulous. That's when I BECAME a fan!!!!

[Psycho_Bunny]

$26,000 per child sounds pretty high....

until you ask yourself what their hospital bills are.

[Captain Peter Blood]

What gets me is that these kids have cancer or have had it and what they need is a diet with meat and milk products for nourishment and they get the exact opposite.
I am not knocking Imus for trying to help these kids but I feel he does treat this ranch like his own personal fiefdom.
Deidre is a very Leftie and when you read this article comes across as very Kooky.
This isn't the first article I have read on the Imus Ranch and controversy. There very well be some improprieties I guess we will have to wait and see.

[Captain Peter Blood]

I don't think she is a Republican or a Bush supporter. She is a big time Leftie. You may have bad information.

[withteeth]

"BOMBED at the dinner? HE WAS GREAT!!! He insulted the Clintons so badly it was fabulous. That's when I BECAME a fan!!!!"

Me too! I even remember finding a transcript in a magazine and buying it, it was so hilarious (in the days before I got on the internet).

Imus acts ashamed of that performance but I'll bet he knows he won a lot of new fans that night.

[withteeth]

I wouldn't be surprised if they confiscate the kids' meds.

[withteeth]

You can read the full WSJ article here.

"Staff say that during the summer, children sometimes work in 100-degree heat pulling weeds and shoveling horse muck. There are no televisions, videogames or CD players for the kids, and their day starts with chores at 6 a.m."

[razorback-bert]

Hmmm, the charity business pay well.


Some additional financial facts are available from the nonprofit corporation’s IRS form 990, which says that it had raised over $12,600,000 by 1998 along with another $400,000 in interest and had spent $221,000 on management and $76,000 on fundraising. Construction of the ranch was expected to cost at least $8 million. They anticipate further corporate sponsorships and donations, foundation grants, individual gifts, and perhaps government grants. Their law firm, Copilevitz & Canter of Kansas City, specializes in non-profit ventures and telemarketing. A separate retail enterprise, the Autobody Express in Santa Fe, sells western wear, and is said to gross $10 million annually. Grocery stores distribute Fred’s all-natural salsa and Imus Brothers’ Coffee. It is to be expected that after his retirement from the media, the ranch will absorb much of Don’s time.

[leadpenny]

I should have qualified "Bombed." As I remember most of Washington and many of the TV and newspaper pundits panned his performance at the Correspondent's Dinner. I was a little embarrassed for him because I didn't think he did a good job of delivering the hits on Clinton.

I thought then and I think now that the real genius of Imus is his ability to surround himself with talented people like Bernard and Lou and Charles. He also knows how to use comedian writers like Rob Bartlett and Larry Kenny to deliver what he wants to get across.

I believe Imus felt like he had been knocked down after the Correspondent's Dinner and he spent the next week rebuilding his image on his show. I think he did an outstanding job yesterday doing the same thing. Today should be interesting now that the NY AG has closed it's investigation with a finding of no wrongdoing.

[Capn TrVth]

"You must be physically fit enough to work and ride a horse. The work can be demanding and you should consider that when making your decision whether to come to the ranch."

See the official requirements yourself here: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3359675/"

So kids go there to do his manual labor? muck out his stalls and move rocks, DAYAM! And it's only $26 thousand per kid!?

I've spotted a dozen broken Child Labor Laws already ;>

I'm getting this image of IMUS assembling the kids out in the courtyard, One kid is digging a giant hole..

Imus brays: "Nah, wut we have heeyuh, is a failya.... t' communicate..."

All seriousness aside, I think we will find that Imus has been doing as good for himself as he is doing good for the kids.

The article may be a low blow, but there's something goin' on there, scrutiny and audits come with the territory when one does the sort of things Imus is doing.

The rub is in this unique blending of Home and Hospice. That's gotta be a mess to keep sorted out, hence the mess.

Imus could be acting 100% in good faith but on paper some D.A. or Tax assesor could easily make him look like a total thief. Simple as that unfortunately.

[GOPJ]

OK, when he depreciates his building at that level, fellow taxpayers are picking up some of the tab for his charity -- but that's OK with me. Seems he's doing more for children than 90% of the so called non-profits in this country, and by a long shot. That says something about him -- and something about the other nonprofits...

I'm not much of a fan, but I have to defend Imus on this one. Leave the scrutiny for the ones who are out there trying to hide corruption behind a "so-called" charity.

[Benrand]

Imus does do shows from there, on TV as well as radio. Curious. I can understand why he would do it..he usually has his breathing apparatus on while doing...LOL.

[infocats]

The New York State Attorney General, Elliot Spitzer, just cleared the Imus Ranch of any impropriety and dropped the investigation.

Meanwhile, Don Imus has had his attorney, David Bois, contact the Wall Street Journal to get them to print a retraction of their defammatory front page story in yesterday's edition of the paper.

[leadpenny]

Imus listening to Jon Meacham talk about his article in this week's "Newsweek" about Christ. Fascinating.

Audio hookups went down for a while and Imus told Meacham that it was probaly God telling him not to talk about the WSJ article anymore.

[elli1]

The Imus ranch hosts the siblings of children who died of SIDS --- i.e. healthy children requiring no medical attention.

From the MSNBC link you posted:

Its sole purpose is to provide the experience of the great American cowboy to children suffering from cancer or serious blood disorders, and children who've lost brothers and sisters to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

[leadpenny]

Imus: "Robert Frank, the sniveling little punk . . ."

[elli1]

They intend to use their property and the adjacent state land -- some 3,000 acres in all...However, the ranch property was leased by the state of New Mexico to Imus.

From your link:

They intend to use their property and the adjacent state land -- some 3,000 acres in all.

As an aside, New Mexico in 9th on the list of states in terms of largest percentage of total land owned by the federal government. Uncle Sam owns 47.4% of the state of New Mexico.

Link

[rhombus]

These private donations were used to build property that will be used for personal enrichment (a 10,000 sf plus architectural and decorative showcase) as well as limited charitable functions. The fact that all these millions of donations are tax deductible means that we, the public, are subsidizing this.

The same rationale could and is used about every religious organization that has property.