Forwarded message - for info, please visit
http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=115271

News12: I-Team Investigates: Where charity can donations really go

PLEASE CROSSPOST

Last night, News12 NJ aired a segment about National Animal Welfare
Foundation and their cans which are distributed all over the tri-
state area. This was their second investigation. NAWF has been
under controversy for some time now for not allocating any money to
animal charities.

It's a good idea to keep copies of newspaper articles (I can provide
them if anyone needs) or this article in your car. That way, you can
hand them out to managers of stores where you see these cans, explain
that the money is not going to local animal charities and ask them to
remove the cans. Legally, they cannot take the money but they can
tell the person who comes to collect the money that they want their
cans out of their establishment. Most managers/owners are grateful
that you informed them of this when you explain that NAWF is
defrauding their customers.

Shari
______________________________________________________________

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=115271

I-Team Investigates: Where charity can donations really go

(07/19/04) EDISON - Donation cans for the National Animal Welfare
Foundation can be found in convenience stores across New Jersey.
However, the I-Team discovered the charity group has yet to save a
single dog.

The National Animal Welfare Foundation is run by Patrick Jemas with
help from his cousin Alfonso Bergamo, a convicted bookie with
admitted ties to the Genovese crime family. Jemas claims his group
never made much more than $6,000 a year. This was barely enough to
cover his bills, leaving him with no money to help the animals.

The I-Team found out the foundation had a fundraising contract that
guaranteed it more than $42,000 a year. Jemas says he never received
that amount of money, but he still renewed a contract with the
fundraiser for two years. Jemas told the I-Team he will now take over
the fundraising himself.

Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union) is sponsoring a bill to regulate the
coin donation industry. Cohen says it is inconceivable that groups
such as the National Animal Welfare Foundation are making as little
money as they claim.

Jemas told the I-Team that in the past several weeks, he sent out
approximately $1,000 in checks to other animal charities but did not
explain how he got the money.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Note: There was also an article in the "Times Herald Record" on
2/3/03 called "Who's Getting the Money?" -
http://www.recordonline.com/cgi-bin/printstory/printstory.cgi

February 23, 2003

Who's getting the money?
The charity collects coins to help animals: Is it legit?

By John-Henry Doucette
Times Herald-Record
jdoucette@th-record.com

Middletown – A New Jersey charity collecting local pocket change
in the name of helping animals has yet to show it has done anything
but pay itself.
Not much adds up about the National Animal Welfare Foundation
Inc., a fund-raising outfit based in a Union, N.J., office suite. The
foundation could rake in as much as $72,000 a year, according to one
estimate, through collection cans scattered throughout the tri-state
area, including several cans in Hudson Valley businesses.
Officials from the foundation will not return phone calls. Their
Web site is down. A review of documents by the Times Herald-Record
shows the group – which has said it puts profit toward spaying and
neutering – is always in the red, so there is no profit for services.
Cans were at seven locations along Dolson Avenue this week.
Employees at the locations said the collection is suspect. But no one
questioned a man they said changes cans periodically. They said he
comes in, says nothing and walks out with the cash.
The foundation may be violating a Middletown law requiring
solicitors to register, Deputy City Clerk Charles Mitchell said
Thursday.
"They never contacted us," Mitchell said. "They should to dispel
any appearance of impropriety ... It sounds very questionable. I
would suggest until we have concrete answers we have the cans removed
from any business in the city limits."
Local laws aside, there is nothing wrong with registered charities
conducting fund-raising drives in which cans are left to be filled
near cash registers. For the donor, the hope is the money collected
goes where it should. For the charity, the money should have a
purpose.
The foundation in question has cans wrapped in pictures that
appear to show starving pets. A message proclaims: "I can hardly
stand ... We need you!"
The Record has requested – and been refused – documentation or
references that would show the charity provides services to any
animals at all.
The Associated Humane Society in Newark, N.J., which provides care
for abused and abandoned animals, has never seen a dime from
this "national" group, officials said this week.
The National Animal Welfare Foundation appears to be a fund-
raising operation. But where does the money go? The cans do not say,
and people listed as foundation officers refused to comment.
William Helwig said he is no longer involved. He said his office
happens to be next door to the charity. Helwig is listed as
foundation treasurer in a 1998 tax return, which he prepared and
signed. His phone number doubles as the foundation phone.
"They do New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania," he said this
week. "They collect money for spay and neuter. That's my
understanding. But you get it from the horse's mouth."
Gus C. Jemas is listed in records as foundation secretary. "I
don't want to talk to you," he told the Record on Wednesday. A man
who identified himself as Gus' father was asked about the charity and
said, "That's my son, Patrick. He's not here."
That's Patrick G. Jemas, the foundation president and director. He
did not answer calls to his home, office or a toll-free line that
became unreachable after a reporter called Wednesday. The toll-free
line was working Thursday morning, but an answering service did not
field questions.
A man calling himself Seymour Medwin returned calls Thursday for
Jemas, but refused questions. Medwin said questions must be written
and mailed to the charity. The Record will publish any responses as
soon as it receives them.
Jemas has acted as a professional fund-raiser for at least two
charities. He now works for Arnold Herman, who runs the anti-child
abuse charity Experience Counts of Monmouth, N.J.
Herman said his group has cans benefiting abuse prevention that
are "piggy-backed" – placed and collected with another charity's
cans – at the same places as the foundation.
He said he pays Patrick Jemas to distribute and collect
them. "They're supposedly a fund-raising outfit for other animal
groups," Herman said about the charity Jemas runs. "He 'piggybacks'
for us in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut."
Herman estimated the 2,000 cans his charity has in those states
pull in about $3 each per month, or $6,000 total. Jemas' charity may
make more money because animals are a bigger draw than kids, Herman
said.
According to federal tax returns and reports filed in two states,
the foundation has not had profits to share with other charities that
provide tangible services to animals in three years.
In 1998, it made nothing, federal tax records show. New Jersey
state records show the charity lost nearly $3,886 in 2000. A report
signed by Jemas and filed to New York state showed the charity lost
$868 in 2001.
If Herman's estimation is right – if Jemas has cans at 2,000
locations at a monthly rate of $3 per can – the foundation's annual
contributions could be greater than the $4,053 claimed in 2000 or the
$3,039 claimed in 2001.
"It's just too bad," said Sara Whalen, executive director of Pets
Alive, a no-kill animal sanctuary in the Town of Wallkill. "There are
legitimate charities that spend money on what they say they are
spending it on."
Orange County Consumer Affairs Commissioner Harold Kalleberg has
this warning about collection cans: "I sure wouldn't give through
those. I don't want to give 90 cents of my dollar to a professional
fund-raiser. I'd rather go to my local Humane Society and write a
check."
Local animal care agencies need the money. For example, the Goshen
Humane Society is building a shelter and needs doghouses, animal
beds, cat beds, climbing toys, litter scoops and office supplies. And
the Middletown Humane Society needs operating funds and donations of
canned cat food and laundry bleach and detergent.
Some charities that have used fund-raising cans do provide
services. For example, the Associated Humane Society runs four
shelters and a zoo featuring rescued animals. RoseAnn Trezza, the
Humane Society's assistant director, has warned animal advocates
about the National Animal Welfare Foundation.
Trezza said they employed Jemas years ago to collect cans, but he
was let go after a falling-out. That was about the time he began
collecting on his own.
In Pennsylvania, Jemas' foundation is not registered to solicit
funds, though it has, according to Trezza. In New Jersey, the
foundation is registered to solicit, as it is in New York state.
Lee Bernstein, the Associated Humane Society's executive director,
accused Jemas of recycling their photos for his own organization.
"Supposedly they give a percentage of what they make to a
charity," Bernstein said.
Which one, we asked.
"Good question," he said.

Tips for donors on giving
Avoid giving through donation cans. If you must give using cans,
make sure you know the organization well. If not, contact it. Ask
what it will do with your money. Get specifics. Reputable charities
encourage questions. In New York state, they are required to answer
them or provide information within 15 days of a request.
Never pay in cash. A check can act as a receipt for the giver and
makes it more likely any charitable agency will properly account for
the donation. Make the check out to the organization, not to
individual members.
Get a receipt for your gift, which may be tax deductible. Request
the charity's address and phone number.
Give locally. Local charities are easier to contact and, like most
legitimate charities, should be able to provide you with an
explanation of how they spend money. Some will put contributions
toward specific programs – at your request.
Tax returns filed by many charities can be found at GuideStar, an
online database of nonprofit groups (www.guidestar.com).
Beware of manipulative presentations, solicitations and sob
stories. A sad photograph of a starving animal, for example, does not
mean a charity intends to feed it.

Sources: New York state attorney general, New Jersey Division of
Consumer Affairs, Orange County Office of Consumer Affairs and
interviews.

Visit http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2003/02/23/jdcans/1.htm to
view some of the organization's state and federal filings.
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Newspapers Inc., all rights reserved.

Posted on SHARE Yahoo group - July 21, 2004