Congressman Henry Waxman takes on Veteran's charities

Entrepreneur Defends Vets Charities

By ERICA WERNER



WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a California-based veterans charity rebuffed accusations of mismanagement and self-dealing at a raucous congressional hearing Thursday, shouting over lawmakers to declare himself "the most honest person in this room."

"I may be the only guy in the whole cotton-picking nonprofit establishment who's willing to tell it as it is!" asserted Roger Chapin, president of Help Hospitalized Veterans of Winchester, Calif. He argued that fundraising costs for charities like his are much higher than some watchdog groups claim, leaving less for veterans than he would like.


Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, was unmoved.

"It's unethical, it's wrong, it's really a fraud against Americans who agree to give you their hard-earned dollars," said Waxman, D-Calif.

Waxman had subpoenaed Chapin to testify after the businessman evaded a subpoena for an earlier hearing that found problems with management of veterans' charities nationally. The charities are benefiting as Americans eager to help troops in wartime open their wallets, but some use questionable accounting methods and spend more on raising money than on helping veterans, some watchdog groups claim.

The American Veterans Coalition, American Veterans Relief Foundation and Disabled Veterans Association — groups not associated with Chapin — all spent more than 75 percent of their revenues on fundraising rather than on veterans, according to the committee's earlier findings. The recommended standard for charities is to spend around one-third of revenue on fundraising.

Waxman said Chapin had given veterans only 25 percent of nearly $170 million raised from 2004-2006 through charities he runs. The rest was spent on fundraising and more than $1.5 million in compensation for Chapin and his wife along with $340,000 more to reimburse the couple for hotels, restaurants and other expenses.
go here for the rest
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJAN08/nf011808-2.htm

Don't confuse them with the DAV. The Disabled American Veterans.

This is who they are.

The mission of the Disabled Veterans Associations is to help improve the quality of life of our honorably discharged veterans by providing disabled veterans, their families and dependents-- whether they have been hospitalized at one of the VA medical centers, admitted to any of the nearly 150 state run and state funded veterans' homes, or are simply in need at home.

http://www.help4vets.org/

Thank you Larry Scott at VAWatchdog for always watching over them.