Posted on 01/17/2008 5:13:22 PM PST by 21stCenturyFreeThinker
Officials of a charity that has raised tens of millions of dollars to help wounded veterans have treated themselves to black-tie dinners, lavish travel and luxury suites at football games while cutting budgets for programs to help the vets, two top officials tell ABC News.
"I am outraged that money that was given in a sacred trust may have been spent in ways other than wisely for the service of veterans," said Henry Cook, national commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
Cook and his top deputy, Joe Palyagi, say they decided to speak out after ABC News revealed their charity had been given an "F" by a charity watchdog group because only 32 percent of the money raised went to charity programs.
"Something has run amok in the process," said Palyagi.
Money for the Military Order of the Purple Heart is actually raised and controlled by a sister organization, the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, Inc.
The Foundation confirmed that it recently held a black-tie dinner for a retiring official at an estimated cost of $40,000.
At the same time, Cook says he was told to cut the budget for his service programs by at least $250,000.
"When they discuss their finances, they go into a closed session, and I am excluded," Cook says.
According to the American Institute of Philanthropy, the charity received an "F" grade because they spend so much to raise money and on their administrative costs and salaries.
"It's a rip-off to the donor; it's a disservice to the veterans they're supposed to be helping," said Daniel Borochoff, the president of the charity watchdog group.
"They just agreed to a campaign with a professional fundraisers to last through 2011 where they're willing to take only 16 percent of the proceeds," Borochoff said.
In a column in its magazine, Esau defended the foundation and its expensive fundraising efforts.
"Given the magnitude of our campaign effort, it's necessary we continue to pay for the services of professional fundraisers," he wrote.
But Cook says the more he learns about how the fundraising arm of his charity works, the more outraged he becomes.
Most grating, says Cook, was an incident at the Washington Redskins football game on Veterans Day last November.
Cook says he was told that wounded veterans were not welcome in the luxury suite provided to charity officials by the Redskins.
"They did give us two tickets, but they were down in the stands, and they told us that those soldiers could not visit the suite, that they had to stay in the stands," Cook said this morning on "Good Morning America."
Cook says he was ordered by Esau and other foundation officials not to talk with ABC News but decided to speak out anyway.
"I see it as I'm doing justice for those wounded combat veterans who work daily on behalf of other veterans, and they have been shamed, and I'm here to set the record straight," Cook said.
Pathetic, just pathetic.
Bump for a SCAM.
There are good charities and some that are outright scams.Very true. Many wonderful charities out there.
The amount of each dollar that actually goes to charity is not a new issue though. It comes up every few years. They need to disclose what percentage of each dollar is spent on overhead in their solicitations.
It shouldn't be a surprise that people would take advantage of the plight of veterans for personal gain. Scammers go where the money is.
The worst abuse I've seen is the Fraternal Order of Police with the fundraiser keeping 90 cents on the dollar. And this after 9/11 when the public was raining money down on Police and Fire fundraising. The caller id would come up "Go Golfin" yeah, I'll bet. One or two hours raking in the cash and then hit the links.
That “National Cancer Fund” that is ALWAYS running ads for vehicle donations tops the list at OVER 90% admin/fundraising costs... and the guy had the nerve to tell me he couldn’t understand how the Salvation Army or Volunteers of America could afford to put over 90% into their programs. Sorta like the “charity” is the afterthought and HIS salary as a fundraiser was paramount!
I check out the rating of any charity I give to. I refuse to give to any group who doesn’t use at least 80% on the actual charity. One of my newer ones is a group that makes clothes for wounded vets that look nice and are tailored for special needs, like hidden velcro for injuries that make it hard to change clothes. They have an overhead of around 15% or so. Groups like that are the only ones who will get any of my money.
What is their name? Sounds worthy of a plug.
I’ll have to look it up. I heard about it a few months ago and then I saw it in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) thing the military does. Its called Sew Much Comfort. Their overhead is 9% according to the form I have. It seemed like a good group to me. I think I saw an interview of the founder on tv a few months back.
Their mission statement
To provide custom-made adaptive clothing, free of charge, to our injured service members which aides in their recovery, provides a tangible reminder of our gratitude for their sacrifice and gives them an added measure of comfort and freedom as they recover from their injuries and return to everyday life. Adaptive clothing accommodates their medical devices and situations, provides ease of use, increases personal independence and minimizes the visual impact of their medical condition.
OK, maybe I'm the last one to know but it sounds like a group worthy of a ping out. Their mission certainly ties in with the great support work performed by the DC Chapter at WRAMC.
That’s a very cool idea — Sew Much Comfort. As for the story at the top - it po’s me as well. I know a great charity that supports the troops with virtually everything going to the programs. Ask me or Jinxie if you want to know more! :-)
It makes a big difference if the workers are volunteers or are paid employees. Salaries can take a HUGE chunk out of the donations.
Sew Much Comfort is a great charity. My hubby was wounded in Iraq, and went through his med board and physical evaluation board over the past summer and fall. He was ultimately deemed unfit for duty and rated with a permanent disability. He then immediately filed for a continuation of active duty (CoAD) because he isn’t finished serving his country, he feels that there is still much that he can do, and his MOS is in very short supply of NCOs. He got his CoAD on Christmas Eve. But that isn’t the point of my post (just my happiness spilling over). While we were in the middle of all that mess and uncertainty, our son was born! Since hubby was in the middle of the wounded warriors program, and starting his paperwork getting into the VA, he ran into a volunteer from Sew Much Comfort. A few weeks later, she hunted him down, and presented him with a baby sized comforter and a little pillow that she and some of the other ladies had made!!!
A wonderful story. We are proud of your husband. Your about page has some very nice pictures. Your daughter is adorable.
Oh my! I totally and completely forgot that I had an about page...and I made a promise to update the pictures on it...around 4 months ago! Teehee!
Thanks for the kind words. There will be pics of the little man (and maybe the kitty) in short time. :)
“They did give us two tickets, but they were down in the stands, and they told us that those soldiers could not visit the suite, that they had to stay in the stands,” Cook said this morning on “Good Morning America.”
Cook says he was ordered by Esau and other foundation officials not to talk with ABC News but decided to speak out anyway.”
This is an outrage. Discrimination is against the law. The Skins should have their franchise revoked and the facility should be donated to the VA.
I wholeheartedly agree that you need to perform due diligence when selecting a troop support charity to support. The Pentagon’s America Supports You program is a good place to start. They do a fairly good job of riding herd on us.
An organization that spends less than 40 cents on the dollar on program costs deserves an F rating. I haven’t finished our 990 yet for FY07, but we’re looking at an overhead rate for our organization of no more than 10%, meaning that at least 90 cents on the dollar went to the troops overseas.
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