God Bless Charities + Calvin Tarver = Crook

[Pumapayam]

This is the kind of news that needs to be heard.

Local 2 Investigates Charity Panhandlers

By Amy Davis

POSTED: Wednesday, February 11, 2009

UPDATED: 6:28 am CST February 11, 2009

HOUSTON -- We know you've seen the men and women collecting donations along Houston roadways because many of you asked us to check them out. Last year we asked the questions to get you answers about where your donations are really going. Now, investigative reporter Amy Davis is giving you a look at the finances and a one-on-one interview with the group's leader. . .

. . ."You just got to hold a sign and a bucket and hand out fliers," the manager told a KPRC producer by phone. "And we pay 25 percent of what you bring in up to $99. If you make $100, we give you 30 percent." . . .

. . . And watch we did. In nine months, "God Bless" switched causes four times from AIDS and HIV to supporting youth, then collecting for a Hurricane Ike relief fund to now raising money for the homeless and hungry.

"Some people said you're just jumping onto the next big cause that'll get people to drop money in those buckets," Davis told Tarver. . .

. . .We did find one financial report Tarver filed with the city. In it, he claims from January to September 2008, God Bless Charities collected $45,000. . . .

. . .More than $19,000 went to pay stipends for the people who collected the cash. . .

After rent, utilities and transportation costs, the group had less than $5,000 left for any cause. . .

Edited February 11, 2009 by Pumapayam

[Jeebus]

I'll ask the question everyones afraid to ask: "What _______ ever gives more than a glance at anyone on the street asking for/selling anything?"

I can confidently say I have never. Well, minus the occasional weekend Chronicle.