It's no big secret that many of the charities that were formed to help our veterans, as well as to support our active duty troops are failing miserably in their missions.
More often than not, up to 35% of donations raised are used for administrative costs.
Now I don't know a whole Hell of a lot about running a charity, I'm sure it's more complicated and costly than I am about to make it seem, but bear with me.
According to this website: Charity Navigator, The Wounded Warriors Project, for example, paid $319,692 in compensation to it's executive director. "Compensation"
in this case means salary, cash
bonuses and expense accounts.
You may wonder why this is a cause that I care about so deeply. If you
don't know, it's because when my husband was finally hospitalized for
PTSD after a hellish 5 years, we were totally screwed.
While the VA took care of all Art's medical expenses and his inpatient
care, I was stuck suddenly with 3 kids and a barely-paying bartending job.
All of a sudden, Art's salary was mostly gone, the FMLA
pay that his employer offered didn't even cover our mortgage,
let alone our utilities, car insurance, or even food.
Luckily, I have family and friends that were more than willing to help us
out, but many people don't have the support and resources that I had.
Instead, they have to rely on foundations such as the Wounded Warrior
Project and a dozen other charities that may or may not even offer
bill-paying assistance. Charities that pay out in expenses just under what
they have taken in.
they have taken in.
It doesn't make a Hell of a lot of sense to me, but as I said,
I don't know a Hell of a lot about running a charity.
Anyhow, a local company, VANAIR and a handful of other local
Veteran's groups had been doing fundraising for one of the military
charities until they became uncomfortable with the amount of money
that was being used for administrative costs.
Rather than ceasing their fundraising efforts, they decided to form their
own non-profit, The Warriors First Foundation.
Along with VANAIR, the Disabled American Veterans,
the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Shamrocks Motorcycle
Club, Guardian Rider, The Wall Gang, Combat Vets Association, Indiana
Patriots Guards and the American Veterans Motorcycle Riders Association
are all involved in fundraising activities for the foundation.
As the name implies, the group truly puts our warriors first.
The group is run strictly on a volunteer basis, meaning no one collects a
salary. To break it down even further, if they have t-shirts made to sell,
and the shirt costs them $5, when they sell it for $20.00,
the $15.00 profit goes directly into the hands of veterans that need it,
veteran's organizations or programs.
If you have a moment, please take the time to go and "like" their
If you have the means and the inclination, you can visit their website
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| Photo via Facebook page |
Two of my pet peeves. Administrative cost and how the families of the wounded worriers are treated by our government. I don't have much money (retired) but what I do give I do not want it to go to some fat cat in his LEXUS. I want my Hero's take care of with 100% of my money. That is why I give personally to any WW I see. And I help with some local groups who help with the families of WW's and deployed members. God Bless our troops and especially those left at home who worry their asses off.
ReplyDeleteYeah, shit like "administrative costs" not only sucks away money from what it was donated for, it also turns people off from donating at all and makes all charities look like crooks. Not for profit my ass! The administrators sure seem to be profiting... Another thing that I hate is after I give money to a cause and then they start sending me letters every week asking for more money. They are using my money to send me letters asking for more of my money! As if they were part of the federal government... WTF!
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you found an honest support group for our warriors. It is absolutely fucked up the way that the military and VA treats veterans. Thanks for getting the word out about Warriors First!