In the wake of tragedies large and small, they put up like mushrooms after a rain. With tales of woe and heartbreaking images of children or helpless animals, they beg for assistance. They are the tragi-charities. One hit wonders seeking to cash in on the tragedy of the day from floods and fires to missing children and more. The pop-up charity business is usually local, occasionally regional and rarely national. Mostly they are the products of individual scammers who smell an opportunity to cash in using the name of a victim who may or may not even be real. They count on local press coverage and a quick website. These ‘charities’ usually rake in a few thousand dollars and disappear. SEE LIST AFTER CUT>>>>>>
The Professionals
Then there are the professional long term operations. They utilize direct mail or telemarketers to solicit millions of dollars in donations from unsuspecting individuals and businesses. Are you concerned you’ve already been scammed or just want to make sure you won’t be in the future? Here are some of the worst offenders:
- Kids Wish Network
- Cancer Fund of America
- Children’s Wish Foundation International
- American Breast Cancer Foundation
- Firefighters Charitable Foundation
- Breast Cancer Relief Foundation
- International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO
- National Veterans Service Fund
- American Association of State Troopers
- Children’s Cancer Fund of America
- Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation
- Youth Development Fund
- Committee For Missing Children
- Association for Firefighters and Paramedics
- Project Cure (Bradenton, FL)
- National Caregiving Foundation
- Operation Lookout National Center for Missing Youth
- United States Deputy Sheriffs’ Association
- Vietnow National Headquarters
- Police Protective Fund
- National Cancer Coalition
- Woman to Woman Breast Cancer Foundation
- American Foundation For Disabled Children
- The Veterans Fund
- Heart Support of America
- Veterans Assistance Foundation
- Children’s Charity Fund
- Wishing Well Foundation USA
- Defeat Diabetes Foundation
- Disabled Police Officers of America Inc.
- National Police Defense Foundation
- American Association of the Deaf & Blind
- Reserve Police Officers Association
- Optimal Medical Foundation
- Disabled Police and Sheriffs Foundation
- Disabled Police Officers Counseling Center
- Children’s Leukemia Research Association
- United Breast Cancer Foundation
- Shiloh International Ministries
- Circle of Friends For American Veterans
- Find the Children
- Survivors and Victims Empowered
- Firefighters Assistance Fund
- Caring for Our Children Foundation
- National Narcotic Officers Associations Coalition
- American Foundation for Children With AIDS
- Our American Veterans
- Roger Wyburn- Mason & Jack M Blount Foundation for Eradication of Rheumatoid Disease
- Firefighters Burn Fund
- Hope Cancer Fund
This list was put together by the Tampa Bay Times and The Center for Investigative Reporting based on federal tax filings for the last 10 years. Charities are broken up into five main categories: children, cancer, police/law enforcement, veterans, fire and other. These fifty charities account for more than $1.35 Billion in donations. Of that, $970 million went not to victims, but to the people who collected the money.
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