Now for me. All I need is your knowledge. I see all the places that claim to be doing things for the veterans, veterans’ families, and the veterans organizations. What you donate to them, where does it go?
I have been trying for years to get some financial help from all the veteran places that are known, and I continuously get the same answer: “Sorry, but we can’t help you at this time.” I requested everything from used furniture to assistance with repairing my parents’ house in Rumford. He was a kidney recipient, and she is a Marine veteran and so were all her boys, me included.
Yet my parents have now lost their house insurance because the house is old, the roof needs repairs, it needs either a paint job or siding, new wood stove and pellet stove for heat because that is the only source of heat in the three-story house because it was too expensive for a new furnace.
I have done some research and found out the Veterans Association that is always doing fundraising raised millions of dollars. Thank you for your time with this. — Scott at scotttouchette18@gmail.com or 207-418-4170.
ANSWER: It would be too time-consuming for Sun Spots to research every veterans organization that exists. The Better Business Bureau offered a breakdown of the money raised by the Vietnam Veterans of America organization: “The BBB reports as of March 2010 that Vietnam Veterans of America spent just 25 percent of revenue on veterans’ programs and a whopping 69 percent on fundraising expenses, with the remaining 6 percent going to administrative expenses.”
Another published report states: “USAspending.gov, an information resource provided by the federal government, has reported that from 2000 to 2008, the Department of Veterans Affairs spent $61.2 billion on goods and services from private contractors. The lion’s share of the money that was paid to the VA’s 109,436 contractors went for medicines ($22.4 billion), medical and surgical supplies and equipment ($4.9 billion), hospitals maintenance ($1.8 billion), hospitals supplies ($1.7 billion) and nursing home services ($1.5 billion).”
As you can see, the VA expenses in general are enormous and the VVA administrative expenses seem minimal. The Military Veteran Project reports: “Of every dollar raised, 98 percent funds medical treatment and research, 1 percent goes to fundraising (website, phones, postage, printing, t-shirts, office space, staff, etc.) and 1 percent goes to administration (accounting, distributing and monitoring grants, etc.). Military Veteran Project takes its responsibility to be efficient and good stewards of every dollar donated very seriously, and strives to put the most funding possible into the hands of medical teams and researchers.”
Have you tried the Lewiston Veterans Center at 29 Westminster St. at 207-783-0068 or 877-927-8387? Have you tried the services of Community Concepts in Lewiston at 800-866-5588? Let us know if you get help.
Use the QR code to go to Sun Spots online for additional information and links. This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com, tweeted @SJ_SunSpots or posted on the Sun Spots facebook page at facebook.com/SunJournalSunSpots. This column can also be read online at sunjournal.com/sunspots. We’ve joined Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/sj_sunspots.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
