Posted on 08/27/2011 7:57:01 AM PDT by lowbridge
Americans eager to give after the 9/11 terrorist attacks poured $1.5 billion into hundreds of charities established to serve the victims, their families and their memories. But a decade later, an Associated Press investigation shows that many of those nonprofits have failed miserably.
There are those that spent huge sums on themselves, those that cannot account for the money they received, those that have few results to show for their spending and those that have yet to file required income tax returns. Yet many of the charities continue to raise money in the name of Sept. 11.
One charity raised more than $700,000 for a giant memorial quilt, but there is no quilt. Another raised more than $4 million to help victims, but didn't account publicly for how it spent all of the money. A third helps support a 9/11 flag sold by the founder's for-profit company.
There are other charities that can account for practically every penny raised — except that all the money went to pay for fundraising, and not the intended mission.
(Excerpt) Read more at newser.com ...
Gee. What a surprise.
Stick with established charities, after all the American Red Cross headquarters could use the new computers.
Anyone who donated to that would buy oceanfront property in Montana, too.
neither do the indonesians or the Haitians...
I give to post tragedy organizations NEVER. To the honest one’s, my apologies but the story here is repeatable over and over. By the way, the Red Cross did not build a another building, they spent the money on computers.
This is why I don’t support any of the big consortium charities anymore. You can’t trust any big groups with your money.
If you really want to do good for a person in need, find out what they need and take it to them so you know they get it.
Yesterday I read the article about the Susan G. Komen Foundation, a big fund raiser for breast cancer. Come to find out they are one of the biggest supporters of Planned Parenthood. Wonder how many people thought they were sponsoring breast cancer research and found out they were supporting abortion clinics instead. Which current science has now discovered abortions and contraceptive pills are the biggest causers of breast cancer.
How many heart jerking brochures have you received and picked up your checkbook and sent them money without ever finding out what they’re doing with it?
Scratching head. What were they going to do with a giant quilt that would cover 25 football fields?
I only give to the Salvation Army. They are about the only honest outfit I know of and they do good work.
What happened to all the money donated for Haiti?
I'll second that. They're the only group I see first hand on a daily basis that actually does what they say they do.
The Salvation Army is a excellent choice.
I am sorry to say I am cynical after every big disaster, too. There is money to be made and there are bad people making it. They know most of us have sincere sympathy for disaster victims and want to “do something.”
I give through my church. For instance we had missionaries on the ground in Sendai during the recent tsunami. They were in place, approved, and in a great position to directly save lives and sincerely help people for the first few weeks - some of the few who were really able to help.
Similar situation in Haiti. One of our missionaries was physically pulling kids out from underneath school rubble, etc. Those that were there, in place, knew the culture, didn’t have to bribe anybody, and were in a position to best use our resources to REALLY help and not just fatten the wolves.
I don’t “give” at office fundraisers or at the supermarket checkout, and I am sorry to say this, because I just don’t believe much if any of what I give will be doing any good.
Yes, my son went on a two week church mission for the tsunami relief. They took a whole plane load of goods, and then when they got there and distributed their goods, they helped with as much clean up and rescue as they could. He said also part of their group had to pile in and help organize the delivery of goods from the big fundraisers because they just sent goods with no idea how to get them distributed to the people fast enough and the airport was clogged down because they couldn’t get the planes unloaded fast enough.
He said it was such a horror site as there were still the many bodies on the beach. If you will remember there were thousands on the beach to watch the tsunami come in and they all drowned. Every day a group of EMT’s would go down and gather up the bodies as they washed back in.
Yes, in those circumstances, it’s better to give directly to your church mission who is also sending personnel to see it gets to the people.
Yes, there’s always a Salvation Army working right in your neighborhood. They operate a homeless shelter not too far up the highway. I take them all my extra clothing, and every once in awhile, I’ll take two big roasts up there. Also if you ask them if they need something specific they will tell you. Like one time they realized their pillow cases were disappearing and they were running out. General Dollar store is right up the street and you can get pillow cases pretty cheap. Or they’ve needed band-aids or shampoo.
Add Haiti relief to the pile
Couldn’t agree more. The Salvation Army is one of the most efficient—and effective—charities on earth. After this disaster, FEMA will probably waste billions on loans/grants to storm victims and we’ll discover later that some of the money was given to people who (a) didn’t live in the affected area, or (b) suffered no losses. We’d save a lot of tax dollars—and deliver more aid—by simply giving the Salvation Army a block grant.
Of course, I rather doubt the SA would take the government’s money because it would come with certain “strings” attached.
If I recall, Red Cross built themselves a state-of-the-art office complex.
These days stealing is viewed as a legitimate way to earn a living. Too bad God doesn’t see it that way. There will be a lot of thieves going to hell.
There will also be a lot of adulterers there. This is the most common sin.
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