Charity begins in the home.....
or maybe also at MY CHURCH?!
What is with all the emphasis on ORGANIZING? (Well, technically many of us have been "organizing" in the form of 9-12 groups, tea parties, Constitution book clubs, etc. - but I CHOSE to do this.)
OK, here's my disclaimer right off the bat: I completely support helping out our fellow Americans. I support helping children all over the world. I donate a C-note to my church every month so that they distribute that money to SERVICE and missions they support, and I do this out of choice. And I almost never pass by a corner pan-handler without giving them at least a dollar, and I don't care where they spend it (see Hebrews 13:1-2*).
My "Black Helicopter" theory, supported by these relatively indisputable observations: Our economy is tanking. Unemployment is rising to almost 10%. Our President seems to be taking our country in the opposite direction he promised. Will we all be out of work and in a place that we have no choice but to go to work for these "volunteer organizations"? Are we destined to receive checks from the federal government? What does this do to free-enterprise? What does this do to private industry? What does this do to my husband's paycheck???
I think I have completed the loop in this crazy-goose chase I was on in Part 1 of this two-part blog entry. I have questions:
1. How many 501(c) non-profit groups are there in the United States?I am not an expert on Non-Profit Organizations by any means.
2. How many of them receive funding from the Federal Government (OUR tax dollars)?
3. How many of them promote issues that we would never give permission to promote - not including abortion, because we just don't fund that, right?
4. What is a "Conflict of Interest" regarding federal politicians?
NonProfitExpert.com
states they are. It's a good site to refer to. I haven't researched it much, but I'm putting this blog post out there for people to read and run with whatever information they gather from Parts I and II of this entry.
In the 9 months the Obama Administration has been placing an incredible amount of emphasis on SERVICE by the American people. This concept is not new in terms of government endorsed civilian service. In fact, it is a little known fact that my grandfather, Glenn S. Callaghan, worked as a State Administrator of the National Youth Administration under Franklin Roosevelt (link to: "My Day" by Eleanor Roosevelt). But that was 1938. Things were different, and lessons from that history, I hope, were learned. Do we still need a National Youth Administration? Do we need CityYear.org? What is City Year?
Full-Time Youth Service Corps
Why is this important? Well, because they are a 501(c)(3) non-profit entity supported by YOUR tax dollars. They have a ton of donors that give them cash too. And, they file a Form 990, which exempts them from income tax.City Year’s signature program, the City Year youth service corps, unites 1,500 young people age 17-24 for a year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. These young leaders come from diverse backgrounds and put their idealism to work by tutoring and mentoring school children, reclaiming public spaces, and organizing after-school programs, school vacation camps, and the Starfish Corps, Young Heroes, and City Heroes programs.
Now, one more clip to support my alarm in the situation:
"The Plan:" by Rham Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff:The Federal Government has a website called United We Serve (¡Ahora disponible en el idioma español en www.Servir.gov!). When you want to "volunteer" the website will take you to AmeriCorps. This site will take you to a page where you can hone right in on where you want to work! I'd like to go right to working with the kids. In fact, this site makes it really easy (REALLY EASY, but that's a different subject aside) to find a place to work with kids. So it takes me to CityYear.org, a 501(c) not for profit organization. I said that already. So, ok, let's go to the cool data base site that is Melissadata.com.
John Kennedy was right: A nation is defined not by what it does for its citizens but by what it asks of them. If your leaders aren't challenging you to do your part, they aren't doing theirs. We need a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us by establishing for the first time an ethic of universal citizen service. All Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 should be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic civil defense training and community service.
From www.Melissadata.com on City Year:
| Organization Click for more information | City | State | IRS Subsection | Assets | Income |
| CITY YEAR INC | BOSTON | MA | 03 | $47,281,207 | $60,730,294 |
Wow! That's good money!! The words "CITY YEAR INC" is a hyperlink that brings us here:
| CITY YEAR INC | |
| Address | 287 COLUMBUS AVE BOSTON, MA 02116-5114 MapG MapY MapV |
| IRS Subsection | 501(c)(3) - A religious, educational, charitable, scientific or literary organization. |
| Type of Foundation | Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public |
| Type of Organization | Corporation |
| Deductibility | Contributions are deductible |
| Tax I.D. Number | 222882549 |
| Exempt Since | 05-1988 |
| Form 990 Requirement | 990 or 990EZ return |
| Last 990 Form Filed | 06-2008 |
| Form 990 Amount | $60,116,509 |
| Activity #1 | Community service organization |
| Classification | Unknown |
See the box that says: "Type of Foundation: Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public"
Let's review some of the programs that Serve.gov takes us to. It's almost infinite the places you can serve!!
Including this one! 9/11DayOfService.org, complete with Stories of Survival and Loss. I feel guilty, I better serve soon, but I digress.
In Part I of my blog post I connected some dots with 9/11 Day of Service dot Org. One of the dots was the Center for Community Change.
Here they are on Melissadata:
Center For Community Change -
| CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE | WASHINGTON | DC | 03 | $13,360,511 | $12,460,128 |
| FUND FOR THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE | WASHINGTON | DC | 03 | $9,772,430 | $3,348,769 |
I have by the way checked all of these and addresses match those on the websites. What's funny though is if you go to the map hyperlink, the map points to the middle of a street or a tree. Maybe they're just out of date.
| CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE | |
| Address | 1536 U ST NW WASHINGTON, DC 20009-3912 MapG MapY MapV |
| IRS Subsection | 501(c)(3) - A religious, educational, charitable, scientific or literary organization. |
| Type of Foundation | Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public |
| Type of Organization | Corporation |
| Deductibility | Contributions are deductible |
| Tax I.D. Number | 520888113 |
| Exempt Since | 12-1968 |
| Form 990 Requirement | 990 or 990EZ return |
| Last 990 Form Filed | 09-2007 |
| Form 990 Amount | $12,460,128 |
| Activity #1 | Scientific research (diseases) |
| Activity #2 | Contact or sponsored scientific research for industry |
| Activity #3 | Other activity aimed at combating community deterioration |
| Classification | Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C. |
| FUND FOR THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE | |
| Address | 1536 U ST NW WASHINGTON, DC 20009-3912 MapG MapY MapV |
| IRS Subsection | 501(c)(3) - A religious, educational, charitable, scientific or literary organization. |
| Type of Foundation | Organizations operated solely for the benefit of and in conjunction with organizations described in 10 through 16 above. |
| Type of Organization | Corporation |
| Deductibility | Contributions are deductible |
| Tax I.D. Number | 521449690 |
| Exempt Since | 06-1986 |
| Form 990 Requirement | 990 or 990EZ return |
| Last 990 Form Filed | 09-2007 |
| Form 990 Amount | $700,157 |
| Activity #1 | Gifts, grants, or loans to other organizations |
| Classification | Single Organization Support |
Ok, just one more, since it's kinda made the news lately:
Whoa. That's overwhelming. I'll focus on one closer to home:
| ACORN FOUNDATION | |
| In Care of Name | EARL E SHELP |
| Address | 701 N POST OAK RD STE 330 HOUSTON, TX 77024-3884 MapG MapY MapV |
| IRS Subsection | 501(c)(3) - A religious, educational, charitable, scientific or literary organization. |
| Type of Foundation | Organizations operated solely for the benefit of and in conjunction with organizations described in 10 through 16 above. |
| Type of Organization | Corporation |
| Deductibility | Contributions are deductible |
| Tax I.D. Number | 760400642 |
| Exempt Since | 11-1994 |
| Form 990 Requirement | 990 or 990EZ return |
| Last 990 Form Filed | 12-2008 |
| Form 990 Amount | $419,830 |
| Activity #1 | Gifts, grants, or loans to other organizations |
I don't even know if this all means anything. I just know that there are tax payer dollars involved. And ACORN hasn't exactly had GOOD PRESS lately.
Is there a link to these activities and the Federal Government? Well, the links that are obvious to me are that UnitedWeServe.com leads us to places we can volunteer our service and places we can apply for funding for service projects.
Where does all that money come from? "Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public."
Again, volunteer service is good. As long as the emphasis on "volunteer" is maintained, which I'm not really sure it is here. I'm certain that most of the people involved in all of these organizations are well-intended. But what about going up a level or two? Do they have good intentions?
That, of course, reminds me of another famous quote, which is almost cliche anymore: "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."
There will probably be a Part III to all this. But for now, my brain is tired. If anyone who actually reads this wants to expound on it all, please be my guest. And let me know what you find at conservative_mom@yahoo.com.
God Bless.
__________________________________________________________
* Hebrews 13:1-2 "Keep on loving each other as brothers.
Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some people have
entertained angels without knowing it."
I love the research and facts you present. My main blog is also focused on facts. My second is opinion. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I look forward to reading your blog posts, too.
ReplyDelete