Donations to veterans groups doubted after donations vanish

The American people do care about veterans. This is obvious every time they read a report on how the VA fails veterans. It's obvious when group after group steps up to pick up where the VA fails. This happens all across the nation. What the American people cannot tolerate more than the failure of the VA is organizations claiming to put veterans first but end up just using veterans for personal gain. This angers them more than anything else but it's not just about the group that did the swindle. Oh no, it hurts the donations for all groups. It makes people think twice about trusting anyone with their donations.

Dante Hayes raised a lot of money when he claimed to be putting on the Veterans Ball. The money vanished and so did he. We don't know what happened but according to this report, he was claiming all systems go up until people were waiting to hear about travel arrangements to the ball. The hotel had not been paid, so they naturally canceled the event. How do you cancel a reputation? How do you cancel the connect the American people have to veterans? How do you cancel the emotional cost this placed on veterans? Can we ever come close to making any of this up to them above all? Hayes did a lot more damage than to the people who donated money to him and paid for tickets. He did damage to every organizations out there that really does put veterans first.

Missing promoter leaves ball sponsors angry
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 22, 2009 15:20:46 EST

The promoter who failed to hold a promised Veterans Inaugural Ball on Tuesday has left behind a trail of angry corporate sponsors and charities who contributed to the event, disappointed performers who were booked for entertainment, and 17 to 25 beauty queens who were told they would be ambassadors for their states at the ball and help raise up to $10 million for veterans’ causes.

Debbie Slater, mother of 17-year-old Miss Teen Montana Galaxy Nikki Slater, said in a Wednesday interview that her daughter had told all of her friends she was coming to Washington for the inaugural, and there even was an article about the trip in a local newspaper.

In e-mails, promoter Dante Hayes promised three or four “action-filled” days highlighted by the black-tie ball that Obama supposedly would visit because veterans were such an important cause.

“Honestly, if a veterans’ organization contacted me right now asking for my support, I wouldn’t trust them because of this experience,” Slater said, adding that her family had spent money buying gowns and tuxedos for the many events and had even made a contribution to the cause because they were such big believers. click link for more