Posted on 02/01/2013 2:21:14 PM PST by Da Bilge Troll
A Christian church and school in Florida are devastated after they said Wounded Warrior Project refused to accept their fund raising effort because it was “religious in nature.”
“We were heartbroken,” said Wallace Cooley, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church and Academy in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Cooley said they had already paid a $100 registration fee to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and were about to launch the campaign when they received an email from the organization.
The church had planned on taking up a special offering on the last Sunday in February and students were collecting money from family and friends.
“We must decline the opportunity to be the beneficiary of your event due to our fundraising event criteria, which doesn’t allow community events to be religious in nature,” read an email from the WWP community events team. “Please note your registration fee will be refunded within the next 7-10 business days.”
WWP said as a nonpartisan organization they cannot accept event fundraising from companies “in which the product or message is religious in nature.”
Pastor Cooley said they were so shocked that the school secretary called Wounded Warrior to make sure there hadn’t been a mistake. He said a WWP representative assured her that “religious” was indeed on their banned list.
“We had to tell our children and parents we can’t give to the Wounded Warrior Project,” Pastor Cooley told Fox News. “We are second-class citizens now because we are people of faith.”
A Wounded Warrior told Fox News they would look into the matter. The organization did not respond to subsequent telephone calls.
The fundraising project was a joint effort by the 400-member church and the 460 students who attend the academy. The pastor said he first learned about WWP by watching Fox News Channel.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
See my post #1.
I was pretty upset by the posting about the religious donation. I felt like some of the spokespeople for this organization were pretty reliable (like Tom Seleck and Trace Adkins) and they sure pull the heartstrings in their ads on TV. So I contacted them directly about religious donations. Here is how they responded:
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Thank you for your email and interest in finding out more about Wounded Warrior Project.
Wounded Warrior Project has always welcomed religious fundraisers and donations from religious organizations. We happily accept support from many diverse groups to honor and empower Wounded Warriors.
We did turn down this potential fundraiser because it did not fit several of our giving guidelines for community events. Unfortunately, we mistakenly communicated to the church that the event was turned down because we do not accept donations from religious groups, which is not the case. We work with many diverse groups to honor and empower Wounded Warriors including religious groups. We have called the church to apologize for any confusion.
Should you like to help us fulfill our vision of the most successful and well-adjusted generation of injured service men and women in our nation’s history and would like to register an event or make a donation please feel free to do so. We encourage you to reach out. Thank you again and we hope you continue to support WWP and our mission of honoring and empowering our nation’s Wounded Warriors!
We appreciate your support!
WWP community events team
(904)405-1265 ask for anyone on the community events team
Combined Federal Campaign # 11425
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I checked their website also for the proportion of money that goes to the mission of caring for soldiers and it looks like it ok, maybe not as good as some organizations.
Like so many things on the internet, there is such a likelihood for it to be wrong or inaccurate. Just wanted to let everybody know.
This is just another of the many reasons I stopped donating to WW. The wife and I found a much better organization where over 90% of funds raised go directly to help programs.
Thanks for the update. However, I think their response is no more than CYA. Considering the firestorm it is very weak. I’d like to see much more information. In the mean time, I believe there are better places for my limited resources.
“We must decline the opportunity to be the beneficiary of your event due to our fundraising event criteria, which doesn’t allow community events to be religious in nature,” read an email from the WWP community events team. “Please note your registration fee will be refunded within the next 7-10 business days.”
Thanks for checking on this, Sgt. But the above statement bothers me if it was actually sent to the church. Plus they didn’t explain what criteria they didn’t meet.
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