Those of us who are working on Operation Give are a little concerned. We recently ran across this web site:
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/req_3/request.html
They have a Paypal tip jar up, and we don't know what they're doing with the money.
* Update * I've changed this article because we recently had some very friendly contacts with the Spirit of America folks. We jumped the gun and over-reacted a little. In fact, I should say that *I* over-reacted. From everything we see, Spirit of America is a great group and we support them wholeheartedly.
They had a PayPal collection jar up, and we didn't know what they were doing with the money. We've now talked to them and everything's totally cool.
We just want to know what's up if you're collecting money. It's not a big deal, but please talk to us so we know what you're up to!
In case you missed it, by the way, we're still collecting toys:
Operation Give Warehouse
7155 Columbia Gateway Drive
Columbia, MD 21046
Please let everyone know about it!
Dean, that site looks like it's setting up to be a sort of clearinghouse for charity drives by military personnel in the middle east. *That* really would be kind of a cool thing.. one place and you can pick the one or ones you're interested in. If, of course, that's the deal.
Our attorney, Matt Evans, shot them a polite but firm note.
We'd be thrilled to work with them if they're a legitimate group.
They aren't trying to siphon money off the gullible; they link directly to your domain.
Almost certainly legit. I did a little poking around on the founder, Jim Hake. He's real.
I think these people just want to send you eyeballs and cash.
That's what I was thinking, Dip. They've been around since 2001. They were just giving some promotion to a worthy cause.
Let me clarify something: when we first saw their web page, they did not link to the OpGive web site. They just had a Paypal jar up to collect funds. So we didn't know what the hell was going on.
Since talking to them they've revised their web page.
I'm not sure they had to do that, since we absolutely don't mind if they want to collect money. At all. They do now link to the OpGive web site, which is totally cool too.
It was a big stink over something that was no big deal. We've exchanged several very friendly letters with these folks--they're totally legit!
Don't overapologize, Dean. It is necessary to be wary, you are doing fine work.