Reporter wants to talk to CFC donors
A reporter for the St Louis Post-Dispatch contacted me today. He’s researching charitable giving and would like to get in touch with CFC donors who have given to the following charities:
* Diabetes Aid and Research Fund
* Cancer Aid and Research Fund
* Breast Cancer Research and Assistance Fund
* Childhood Diabetes Research Institute
* Childhood Leukemia Research and Assistance Fund
* Children’s Emergency Medical Fund
* Feed My People Children’s Charities
* Children’s Cancer Aid and Research Institute
* Children’s Christian Hunger Network
* Cancer Research Wellness Network
* Alternative Cancer Research Fund
* Christian World Relief
* Children’s Relief Mission
The reporter’s name is Jeremy Kohler. Reach him at the Post-Dispatch via email at jkohler@post-dispatch.com, or by phone at 314-340-8337.
Diabetes Aid and Research Fund
You might be interested in what the “Diabetes Aid and Research Fund” did with your money. In 2004, according to forms filed with the IRS, they received $5.2 million in contributions. The President of the organization, Carol Zaksek, got paid $136 thousand of that. Then the group paid out $440 thousand in cash to a list of other organizations, some of which also appear on the Post-Dispatch list. ($4,500 went to “The Gerson Institute”, a group that promotes quack cancer cures.)
So what happened to the remaining $4.7 million? Your guess is as good as mine. The “Diabetes Aid and Research Fund” accounts for the missing money by listing “non-cash” expenses, including “Medical & Surgical Supplies, nutr.suppl.” valued at $2.2 million to “Missionaries of the Poor Sisters, Naga City Phillipines”. Want to bet that most of that $2.2 million was in really, really valuable “nutr. suppl.”?
Another million dollar’s worth of “non-cash” “nutr. suppl.” went to “Guatemala-Public Ministries.”
Another million in whatever went to the “Native American Reservation Program”- see if you can locate them anywhere.
So 90% of the cash contributed was never disbursed. And even if the “nutr. suppl.” were really worth the “Fair Market Value” calculated, was that really where you thought your money was going? Didn’t you think it was going to, oh, say, Diabetes Research maybe?
The real scandal is that OPM lets these scams continue, and even worse, allows them to use the CFC logo as if it was a seal of approval.
Bottom line- forget CFC. Find a reputable charity, and set up an allotment or direct deposit from your bank account- don’t help OPM promote charity scams!
Jerry, if you please, call me at the number above. Thanks. ~JK