Veterans lost within all the scams and stunts

Hope Eyes Open Before More Close
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 31, 2017

Even in one of the worst years for veterans, there had been some hope within all the scams and stunts. For all the folks out there asking for money do to absolutely nothing to prove they deserved it, people responded. They responded because they do care about our veterans. The problem is they put the spotlight on themselves and left veterans in the darkness where hope could not be found.

I wish I could say I do not judge the universe. I wish I could say that all the do-gooders out there are actually doing some good, but the majority are doing what comes easy for them.

How hard is it to talk about a number when "its an easy number to remember" even if it is not true? How hard is it to talk about a headline when they never even bothered to read the report it came from?

I've been asking that question for years. I am still waiting for an answer. Too many of them have stopped waiting for answers as hope vanished. They found people pretending to care while shutting their eyes to what veterans needed. The result was thousands of veterans shut their eyes for the last time. No one gave them another reason to at least try to stay alive.

They fought for us.
(Yes I am trying to raise some money so that I can at least break even this year but we're talking about a budge of $2,500 a year. What I do is over the phone and online, little overhead but 45 hours a week worth of work. Now think about that as you read the charity frauds below.)

It has been over a decade since raising awareness became more important than doing anything to actually change the outcome. The result was billions going into charities and more veterans going into graves.

Just in this year, here are some of the self serving groups and individuals who were supported while no one thought to ask for any proof for what they claimed.

The Gregory's charities raised $782,434 between 2014-2015. None of the money was ever used for equine therapy, saving horses' lives, or supporting veterans, the lawsuit states. California

Veterans in the area, meanwhile, are disgusted knowing scammers are targeting people who support them. The scammers’ lies are hurting real veterans charities. Jason Parzy, 37, thought he'd walk away with $300 cash as he entered the Cash For Gold store in Wesley Chapel, according to investigators. Florida

Veterans in Need Foundation: In the charity’s most recent IRS filing, it reported collecting $448,000 in donations in the latest year available and almost $2.2 Million over five years. Again, Florida

It was a donation that would change everything. A Gresham man promised to contribute $425,000 to a nonprofit organization that provides gym memberships to veterans. The Beaverton-based charity, Lift For The 22, celebrated the announcement with a check presentation streamed live on its Facebook page. Oregon

After firework tent sales were over on July 8th, the tent closed down, and left. 24 days later, and neither Americans for Independent Living nor the Black Hawk County VA received a single penny in donations from Iowa Fireworks Company, which led KWWL to follow the money. Iowa 

The attorney general said some of Project VetCare’s leaders had diverted money to pay for a range of personal purposes, including a cruise vacation, a heating system for the executive director’s home, and loans and stipends for directors and their relatives.Robert Chambers, co-founder of Project VetCare, was among those named in the report. The investigation found that he used the organization’s fund to pay for a Toyota van and that his daughter had received a stipend payment. New Hampshire

Veterans shelter accused of making profit by making veterans work. North Carolina 

Madigan sued the charity after a 2015 Tribune investigation found that VietNow had raised more than $20 million between 2003 and 2014 but spent 80 percent of those donations on for-profit telemarketers. Most of the remainder went for administrative costs, the Tribune reported, leaving just a fraction of the donations for programs to help military veterans. Illinois

Telemarketers making money instead of veterans all over the country like this one. 

And recently, yet again in Florida, there was this guy.

An Ormond Beach man has been accused of running a sham veterans charity after investigators said he scammed several local businesses that had provided services for a benefit golf tournament headlined by a former NFL player.

Did anyone ask for proof from any of those groups before they wrote checks? Did anyone bother to check to see what all the "awareness raisers" were doing with the money they got? Anyone ask anyone what the result of all this was?

Love On The Rocks? Seems to say most of it. 

First, they say they want you
How they really need you
Suddenly you find you're out there
Walking in a storm
When they know they have you
Then they really have you
Nothing you can do or say
You've got to leave, just get away
We all know the song