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Andy Markowitz
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Posts by Andy Markowitz
Update: Houston Charities Say Toys Program Is Open to All
Dec 3rd
Houston’s fire department and Salvation Army say that while they ask beneficiaries to register using Social Security and other information, no needy applicant is being turned away from their holiday toy drives, reports The Houston Chronicle.
The organizations said their registration procedures were described incorrectly in a previous article, in which immigration-rights activists raised concerns that children of illegal immigrants were having to go without toys because of the information checks. The charities say the measures are simply a way to try to prevent fraud.
“The Salvation Army is not in the business of verifying legal status,” said Juan Alanis, a spokesman for the charity. “We have to be good stewards. If we let people register without checking, that could be abused.”
Former White House Homelessness Chief Starts Own Nonprofit Group
Dec 2nd
The nation’s top official for homelessness policy through most of the George W. Bush presidency is now tackling the issue through a new nonprofit organization, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Philip Mangano, director of the American Round Table to Abolish Homelessness, headed the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2002 until last May. Mr. Mangano said he believes the Obama administration is on the right track on the issue, particularly in its efforts for homeless veterans. But he sees specific opportunities for his group.
“There are things you can do on the outside that you can’t do in government,” Mr. Mangano said, noting that he disagreed with some Bush-era cuts in housing and social-service programs but was unable to speak out because his job was to represent White House policy.
Update: Baltimore Mayor Found Guilty in Charity Gift-Card Case
Dec 2nd
Baltimore’s mayor, Sheila Dixon, was convicted Tuesday of using gift cards collected for the city’s poor for her own personal use, reports the Associated Press.
A jury found Ms. Dixon guilty on a single count of fraud, which could force her from office if upheld on appeal. She was acquitted on charges of felony theft and misconduct in office, and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a second misappropriation count.
The case hinged on the mayor’s solicitation of retail gift cards, ostensibly for distribution to the needy.
(Free registration is required to view this article on the Washington Post site.)
In the Arts: Newseum Cuts Staff, 158 Take Smithsonian Buyout
Dec 2nd
The Newseum has laid off staff members for the second time since moving last year from Northern Virginia to a new, larger Washington location, The Washington Post reports.
The journalism museum eliminated 29 full-time positions late last month, reducing its staff size to 181. The work force stood at 250 before an initial round of layoffs in November 2008, seven months after the institution re-opened on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Newseum’s president, Kenneth Paulson, said the facility fell about 20 percent short of its budgeted fund-raising figure.
In the same article, the Post reported that the Smithsonian has received 158 takers for a voluntary buyout plan announced about two months ago. The institution wants to trim its 6,000-member staff as a result of a reorganization plan and a drop in its endowment.
(Free registration is required to view this article.)
Houston Charities Check Immigration Status for Toy Drives
Dec 2nd
In a move that has upset some immigration groups, some Houston charities that provide holiday gifts for needy children are checking on whether families are in the country legally before including them in the program, reports The Houston Chronicle.
The local Salvation Army and a group affiliated with the Houston Fire Department are among those that ask recipients for a Social Security number when they apply. But the organizations told the newspaper in a follow-up article that they do not turn anyone down for not having proof of citizenship.
Questions Raised About Foundation of Couple in White House Controversy
Dec 2nd
Tareq and Michaele Salahi’s charitable foundation and its chief fund-raising event, promotion of which reportedly prompted their headline-making appearance at last week’s White House State Dinner, is marked by “financial disarray, potentially false or misleading claims” and “bitter court filings,” writes The Washington Post.
The Northern Virginia couple operates the Journey for the Cure Foundation, which raises money for multiple-sclerosis and leukemia research, and the Land Rover America’s Polo Cup, a charity polo match between American and Indian teams that, according to its Web site, has been “patroned every year by the president of the United States.”
The Post reports that there is no record of presidential attendance at the three previous Polo Cups. Land Rover, Cartier, Ritz-Carlton, and other corporations listed as backers for the next edition, slated for June 2010 on the National Mall, said they are not sponsors, and several vendors hired by the Salahis for the events have sued for nonpayment.
(Free registration is required to view this article.)
Hershey Trust Pushes Cadbury Bid to Increase Charity School’s Income
Dec 2nd
The charitable trust that controls the chocolate maker Hershey is pushing the company to make a takeover bid for its British rival, Cadbury, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The Milton Hershey School & School Trust, established by the Pennsylvania-based firm’s founder a century ago to operate a boarding school for orphans, controls about 30 percent of the Hershey Company’s outstanding stock and 80 percent of voting rights. The trust, which historically has resisted aggressive and risky merger activity, wants to bring in new income to increase enrollment at the school, which serves more than 1,800 orphaned or needy youths, according to the Journal.
The trust has more than $7-billion in assets but would have to take on considerable debt to outbid Kraft Foods, which has offered $16.5-billion for Cadbury.
Update: L.A. County Lawmakers Back King Hospital Plan
Dec 2nd
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an agreement Tuesday to team up with the University of California to re-open the troubled Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The university’s regents voted November 19 for the pact, under which the school and the county will jointly oversee a new nonprofit entity to operate the hospital, which closed two years ago amid questions about substandard care.
The philanthropist and pharmaceuticals billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has pledged a $100-million guaranty to back the new facility.
(Free registration is required to view the Los Angeles Times article.)
Pittsburgh Colleges Protest Tuition-Tax Plan
Dec 1st
A proposal to levy a 1 percent tuition tax on students at Pittsburgh colleges and universities threatens to drive a wedge between the city and the institutions credited with playing a major role in its transformation from an industrial to an education and medical center, repots The Wall Street Journal.
Backers say the tax, which would add an estimated $16-million to the strapped city’s coffers, is a relatively small charge for the police, fire, and other services provided to Pittsburgh’s estimated 85,000 college students. Officials say the money would help the city narrow a pension-fund shortfall and keep library branches open.
The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education, which represents 10 local colleges, says the institutions inject millions into the city’s economy and that tens of thousands of students who live in Pittsburgh already pay parking, commuter, and entertainment taxes. The council is lobbying Pennsylvania legislators to adopt a statewide ban on tuition taxes.
Experts Say Giving Downturn Likely to Outlast Recession
Dec 1st
A recovery in charitable giving is likely to lag well behind an end to the recession, The Christian Science Monitor reports in an overview of recent findings on philanthropy.
Contributions dropped 2 percent from 2007 to 2008 and are likely to decline more steeply this year, according to the Giving USA Foundation. Another study by that organization concluded that, based on giving patterns in the aftermath of the Depression and the recession of 1973-75, inflation-adjusted giving won’t return to the 2007 level until at least 2012, even if the recession ended by this June.
Thomas Pollak, program director of the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute, in Washington, said a giving recovery will depend largely on the state of the stock market and on unemployment, key factors in giving by the wealthy and average-income Americans, respectively.
Read The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Philanthropy 400 overview of 2008 giving and a Chronicle article on Giving USA’s findings.
(A paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view the Chronicle articles.)
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