16 replies to this topic

[vladdy16]

I still have not heard from Ilitch Charities regarding their "approval" of our donation. (Thanks to Vladifan for reminding me about this!) Those of you who wrote checks, do what you will. Stop payment, void it, forget about it, whatever you choose is fine. To those who sent money orders, I have no idea if you can report it lost and get your money back. Checks and money orders were sent to Ilitch Charities in April.
I thought about donating the money to another charity; McCarty Foundation I believe is no longer functioning. Then I looked up charities in Michigan; there are many, many worthwhile charities in the area. The cash I collected totals $175. I don't see that $175 is going to make a whole lot of difference to them; however, I'm thinking of just handing the cash to some random family in Detroit. $175 could buy them groceries for a couple of weeks or pay their electric bill.
What say you all?

[55fan]

Do you need "approval" of a donation? Or does that just mean that they have acknowledged it?

I'd imagine that the checks have been cashed already, in which case, I'd imagine that we'd have a seriously hard time getting the money back, nor do I understand why we'd want to.

Maybe next year choose a different charity, but I don't understand why this is an issue, unless I'm missing something or am misunderstanding.

[vladdy16]

The checks have not been cashed. The IC, Inc. charity coordinator told me our donation would have to be approved because of the way it came about, but wouldn't be specific or tell me any more than that. It's been months since first contact, and at least 6 weeks since I followed up with them and was told, in a nutshell, don't call us, we'll call you. Now, I'd be happy to use this money to refresh my Wings wardrobe, but, alas, I am not a charity. Apparently IC, Inc. is not interested in our money, so it needs to find a new home.

[ogreslayer]

The checks have not been cashed. The IC, Inc. charity coordinator told me our donation would have to be approved because of the way it came about, but wouldn't be specific or tell me any more than that. It's been months since first contact, and at least 6 weeks since I followed up with them and was told, in a nutshell, don't call us, we'll call you. Now, I'd be happy to use this money to refresh my Wings wardrobe, but, alas, I am not a charity. Apparently IC, Inc. is not interested in our money, so it needs to find a new home.

I'm cool with whatever, with the exception of paying for your new Wings gear.

[55fan]

Oh, I see. That's really odd. I'd tell them that if they want it, they need to get the lead out or we'll take our contribution elsewhere. Give them a time limit and get an answer or withdraw.

The children's hospital had no trouble accepting our contribution.

[drumnj]

Hmm, I wonder if providing a way to watch Wings games for those underprivileged is considered charitable

What about:
http://fedorovfoundation.org/

[Matt]

The children's hospital had no trouble accepting our contribution.

This. The Children's Hospital of Michigan was very grateful for the donation from the site that we put in last year.

[Vladifan]

The Children's Hospital is fine by me. I've only voided my check so the money's still hanging out there. Unless you'd just rather wait till next year. If we wait, no problem. My amount won't be any different. That really sucks pucks about the money order donors. I have no clue either as to how they can get their money back. As I said to Vladdy16,about the Ilitch Charity guys, "Pee on them uppity peeps!" We move on. They had their chance!

And thanks, Vladdy, for your valiant efforts on our behalf!

[Cevari]

I don't really mind what kind of charity the money goes towards, and I certainly won't be looking to get some kind of refund on my meager donation no matter what ends up being decided. I have to say it's a strange charity that doesn't accept money but hey, what can you do.

[Electrophile]

That's incredibly tacky, and not something I would have suspected coming from something affiliated with Mike Ilitch and his family. I'd say give them a set period of time to get back to you, and if they don't, donate the money to the Children's Hospital. Stick with them from now on, since they have no problem accepting donations from people who want to help them.

[Rivalred]

That's incredibly tacky, and not something I would have suspected coming from something affiliated with Mike Ilitch and his family. I'd say give them a set period of time to get back to you, and if they don't, donate the money to the Children's Hospital. Stick with them from now on, since they have no problem accepting donations from people who want to help them.

She has been sitting on the money for months now and tried contacting the charity numerous times... They have been a bit flakey...

[55fan]

I'm all for the Children's Hospital. I don't think anyone who has donated would object to helping kids. It's not in any way controvercial or politically or religiously charged, so the only people who may object are the ones who either really, really like the Illitches or really, really hate kids.

And next year, we can just pledge to them in the first place, and get lots of people, and raise lots of money, and donate bajillions of dollars to the kids. Yeah. Bajillions. That'll show them.

[TheXym]

What about sending mail directly to Mr. Ilitch? Maybe a letter to the editor in the freep or tge bews? I was one who sent a money order, and it was made out to the charity. Is the problem the muliple sources/forms? I'd think they'd accept a money order. Seems very odd, imho.

[vladdy16]

It can't be the multiple sources as they weren't even aware of the checks. They never processed my credit card. That's one-stop shopping there. I checked their website today; it looks like the gold outing is still happening and they've announced their grant recipients for this year, so the charity is still functioning. I am not of a mind to beg them to "approve" our donation. It's beyond me why they wouldn't just take the money and say thanks.

[Uncle Danny]

Disappointing, but not all that surprising. I'm sure the Foundation checks the affiliations of each and every organization that makes donations in order to protect their reputation in the media and elsewhere. Imagine the press they'd get if they blindly cashed a check from the KKK, for example. Now, I'm not saying we're the KKK (at least I hope we're not!), but if they have many, many such donations to check on, I'm not terribly shocked that a $175 donation either slipped through the cracks or wasn't given priority.

Bummer, all around. I'd say give it to the hospital again, but my vote counts for nothing since the Wings didn't hit any of my marks this time

[vladdy16]

Good news! I finally figured out a home for our donation. I sent it to standup2cancer. After completing the donation, they give you the opportunity to name a star in someone's honor. I chose Craig McCarty. It's not a huge deal, but I thought it was kind of cool. Only problem is, it shows my name, which I would have preferred it not and showed Darren's instead. Oh, well. See it here: http://tinyurl.com/craigmccarty

[55fan]

Awesome. I totally approve.