Family becomes millionaires because of Cancer charity scam.

[myreality]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/19/us/sca...ion/index.html

This family ran four cancer charities, 3 cents from every dollar went to cancer patients and the rest went back to the family.

Despite all the problems this family has caused, they apparently will walk away with $50 million after all is said and done.

The Cancer Fund of America is run by James Reynolds Sr. His son James Reynolds Jr. is the CEO of the Breast Cancer Society. Another charity, the Children's Cancer Fund of America, is run by Rose Perkins, the ex-wife of the elder James Reynolds. He's also the CEO of the fourth charity, Cancer Support Services.

According to the complaint, funds donated to help cancer patients instead went for personal use, in often lavish ways.

"[D]onated funds were used to pay for vehicles, personal consumer goods, college tuition, gym memberships, Jet Ski outings, dating website subscriptions, luxury cruises, and tickets to concerts and professional sporting events," the complaint says.

This is when i wish there was a hell, i would instead hope they all get cancer and everyone refuses to treat them.

[mightyg]

I remember hearing about these scumbags back when the media caught on to what they were doing. There's gotta be a way to nail these assholes to a wall.

[Ragnus]

Last I checked, as long as they paid the taxes on the money they took in, there's no minimum amount of money that they need to actually give to the people they're collecting money for. It's the same reason why Susan B Komen can't be sued for using donated money to sue others over "For the Cure" instead of giving to breast cancer research.

They might be human waste, but they did nothing wrong legally.

[Byrthnoth]

Nail them how, though? The article implies that they were living (lavishly) hand to mouth and have no savings.

[Kalmado]

Maybe I'm wrong for this, but this is why I do not donate money to causes when I get asked at Kohls, the grocery store, etc. In the end I really don't know where it goes.

[Blubbartron]

Maybe I'm wrong for this, but this is why I do not donate money to causes when I get asked at Kohls, the grocery store, etc. In the end I really don't know where it goes.

You're not wrong. A good rule of thumb is that if you ever see advertising enough to be familiar with a charity without having to struggle to find it, it's not putting the money where it needs to go. Charities are just like any other business in America - it seeks to grow, to continue gaining more money, but with the insidious requirement that it must use all the money it takes in. This often results in money getting wasted one way or another, but typically any excess gets dumped back into upper management salaries and bonuses or advertising.

[Spicyryan]

Reminds me of:

[myreality]

http://www.breastcancersociety.org/

Out of business letter.

Other 3 sites down now.

Also this is an article back in 2013 on how Reynolds got started. Seriously though watch your blood pressure if you read the entire article.

http://www.tampabay.com/topics/speci...harities3.page

Building the prototype

Jim Reynolds Sr. is a former Army medic with no college degree who worked his way up to lead the Knox County, Tenn., chapter of the prestigious American Cancer Society.

In 1984, after eight years with the charity, his boss told him to resign or be fired.

The organization accused Reynolds of sloppy bookkeeping, irregular hours and taking title to a 1968 Mustang meant to be auctioned for the charity.

After resigning, Reynolds started his own charity. He eventually settled on the name Cancer Fund of America, mimicking American Cancer Society. He even rented a mail drop that shared a similar Atlanta address.

Then he sent volunteers door-to-door soliciting donations at about the same time as the American Cancer Society's neighborhood fund drive.

[SephYuyX]

Thats why I dont donate.

[NynJa]

Thats why I dont donate.

Same, I've never donated and I dont plan to, not with the income I'm making.

[Melena]

Sadly, there's a lot of "charities" that follow the same model. Susan B. Kohen, Wounded Warriors, etc.

[Ksandra]

I've become a huge fan of Goodwill when it comes to donating stuff.

With that said, I have the rule of thought of "I did the right thing, even if they didn't" when it comes to donations, panhandlers, etc.

[Tantalus]

Most charities do this I don't see why these people are special

[Marootsoobutsu]

Most charities do this I don't see why these people are special

Because most charities do not do this.

But generally, unless it's something like the Red Cross that's working internationally, you're better off donating items (food, clothes, blankets), or time (particularly for things like tutoring, babysitting, cooking, etc...). Your local churches can probably either hook you up with a crew or, if you're not interested in working with or through a church, they can certainly let you know of secular organizations in your area and how to contact them.

[Elizara]

With me, if I HAD the money to spare, I'd rather check with Charity Watch before I donated. And not just because of this. My grandma before she died used to get "gimme" letters from so called charities all the time. AND SHE JUST PAID THEM WITHOUT CHECKING ON IF THEY WERE LEGIT OR NOT.

I'd rather not follow her example and find the legit ones.

[Dizzy's]

Since this is related, I'm just going to leave this here.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/...documents-show

[Brill Weave]

I've become a huge fan of Goodwill when it comes to donating stuff.

With that said, I have the rule of thought of "I did the right thing, even if they didn't" when it comes to donations, panhandlers, etc.

Goodwill is one of the absolute worst "charities" that you can donate to. You give items to them for free and they turn around and sell it at 100% profit. Very little money taken in is actually returned to the community. Take a look at the upper management yearly earnings and you'll see where the money is going. You want to donate to actual charities look at things like the Global Health Ministry or better yet, Amvets. Both have CEO's that make 50k or less and actually give back to their communities.

[Marootsoobutsu]

Goodwill is one of the absolute worst "charities" that you can donate to. You give items to them for free and they turn around and sell it at 100% profit. Very little money taken in is actually returned to the community. Take a look at the upper management yearly earnings and you'll see where the money is going. You want to donate to actual charities look at things like the Global Health Ministry or better yet, Amvets. Both have CEO's that make 50k or less and actually give back to their communities.

Eh? Goodwill has about 82 cents on the dollar turned directly to their purpose (job training and job places for people with disabilities). Considering the rather enormous overhead of their method (retail), and the costs that go with it, it's actually pretty impressive. There have been some scandals regarding salary, but that's mostly been debunked, particularly when compared to similarly sized charities or when compared to the growth those managers have brought to their relative areas. For example, the Portland chapter of Goodwill got a ton of scrutiny for an 860k salary/benefits, but management salary and overhead in his area accounted for 5% of their take-- it was actually one of the more efficient Goodwill chapters in the nation. Could it have been more efficient? Absolutely. Is it worth avoiding? Probably not. While I generally believe that smaller, local charities tend to function far better than mega-charities, finding the local charities that aren't frauds or scams is a lot more work, and there's something to be said for folks easily donating.

Just don't give them your old CRT TVs and monitors. They can't sell them, and they end up as expenses when they have to dump them.

[BaneTheBrawler]

Save at least one CRT TV. old consoles, such as the NES, don't like digital. I'm hanging on to a small CRT/VHS combo. so I can always watch dem tapes.

[zoobernut]

Save at least one CRT TV. old consoles, such as the NES, don't like digital. I'm hanging on to a small CRT/VHS combo. so I can always watch dem tapes.

That is a good point I hadn't thought about. Guess i have to go back and see if we saved any when we moved last.