Saturday, July 30, 2005 1:02 p.m. EDT
'Camp Air America' Still Soliciting
After first denying a relationship, the liberal radio network Air America has finally owned up to its ties to a New York City program for poor kids that was so badly mismanaged that the city withdrew funding last month.
But NewsMax.com has learned that a key part of that program, Camp Air America, is still soliciting funds on the Internet, despite the radio network's announcement that it was severing all ties to the camp's parent organization, the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club.
In June, city investigators found that Gloria Wise officials "approved significant inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted to various city agencies."
On Friday the bosses of lefty firebreathers Al Franken, Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy acknowledged a past relationship with Gloria Wise, saying, "we recently allowed the same club, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, to use our name in a fundraising effort for a summer camp for children in their community"
That's a shift from Air America's statement issued the day before in response to questions from the New York Post's John Mainelli and Dave Seifman, which insisted there was no ongoing relationship:
"Piquant [the network's current parent company] had no involvement whatsoever with funds from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. Piquant neither received nor expended any of the sums that are the subject of the city's investigation of the club."
In Air America's latest version of events, however, the ties that used to bind have now been severed - including the network's relationship to Gloria Wise's Camp Air America.
"The funding for Camp Air America was raised and collected entirely by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, and Air America promoted the camp on air and urged support for it," the network's Friday statement acknowledged. "A link on our web site sent those interested in contributing to the camp to the Gloria Wise web site. Regrettably, the camp did not survive the closure of the Gloria Wise organization."
The camp didn't survive Gloria Wise's closure?
Not according to the Gloria Wise web site, which, as of Saturday afternoon, was not only still in business - it was still touting Camp Air America and soliciting donations via a mailing address, still-working phone number and handy Pay Pal link.
In fact, Gloria Wise's online outlet still hails what it describes as: "The Camp Air America Experience":
"Camp Air America is located on Lake Stahahe among the 46,000 wooded acres of Harriman State Park, just 40 miles north of New York City. The air is clean and dry. Typically the summer days are warm and the nights are cool. An ideal site for a summer camp."
Clicking through the links, supporters are invited to sponsor an array of activities by offering up donations of $35 to $750. The larger donation is supposed to pay for "a life changing week" at Camp Air America for two children of the same family.
What's more, as of Saturday afternoon, the Gloria Wise web site was still trading on its ties to Air America, explaining that morning hosts Marc Maron and Mark Riley "will be helping to raise money for Camp Air America this June and July."
Undoubtedly the folks at Air America will prevail on Gloria Wise to have any and all mentions of the network removed from its web site - hopefully sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, however, donors who don't know about the Gloria Wise fundraising controversy are still being solicited in Air America's name.
yes, Camp Air America, that's what I read about before.
So, they're still milking donations through it...lovely.