Nonprofit to wear clothing other than military uniforms
NBC Miami reports that a nonprofit organization, the Veterans and Patriots Citadel Incorporated, in reaction to charges of “Stolen Valor” has announced that they won’t be panhandling for donations in military uniforms.
The change comes after the Miami-Dade County Commissioner’s Military Affairs Board sent a warning to the public, urging them to help veterans organizations but to also properly vet people collecting funds.
The move comes after a former U.S. Marine confronted men in military-style uniforms asking for money at a Miami intersection in an alleged case of “Stolen Valor.”
That’s as it should be – the military uniform isn’t a costume for hobos. No real veteran would think that it’s OK to shake a tin cup while wearing a military uniform.
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
Wheel chairs, canes, flags and lessons on how to limp will continue to be utilized.
If they’d just stop with the panhandling, that would be nice, too.
Too much money involved to stop panhandling! Those suckers make more in a day than I ever did working for a living!
I think a number of these “we want to help Vets organizations” are just out to make an easy profit for themselves and possibly giving needy Vets chump change.
Likely the vast majority of them.
Next time you get one of those phone calls soliciting money for troops or “the families of law enforcement who died in the line of duty”, ask them how much goes to administrative costs and how much to the veteran. They will hem and haw, then transfer you to their supervisor. Ask the supervisor the same question. They will respond with “That’s a good question.” I know it’s a good question, that’s why I asked. Eventually they will respond with “No less than 10% goes to the veteran.” So, follow up with “Does the veteran ever get more than 10%?” They respond with “No less than 10% goes to helping the veteran.” That question and answer will go back and forth several times. Time for the kill shot. Ask them “So, how much do you give to help veterans (or law enforcement)?” When she replied that she wouldn’t answer, Hack asked her “What’s the matter, you don’t want to support veterans?” Or, you can just tell them “Instead of me giving you a dollar, then you giving 10 cents to the veteran, why don’t I just give the veteran 25 cents directly, and I can keep 75 cents?”
Ah yes, reminds me of my days working for a private ambulance service (pre-9/11); my partner and I used to pull the 06-1400 shift we used to see this guy pushing his wheelchair onto a traffic island wearing this faded cammie jacket with a sign that said “Disabled Nam Vet, Plse. Help” every day once the weather got warm until the late fall. Long story short, he got robbed one hot summer afternoon, tuned up sweet and needed an ambulance ride home from the ER. Dirt bag commuted in from the burbs, drove an SUV, lived in an F-ing condo and wintered in Florida on what he collected (and paid zero taxes on) panhandling. That bugged me a lot, but what pissed me off even worse was that he bragged about having been part of the amnesty for draft dodgers and claiming to be a disabled vet was a great scam. We “accidentally” left his pain pills in the living room after we put him in his bed. Jerkoff…
Ahhhh … “The Man with the Twisted Lip”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Twisted_Lip
There are a number of beggars out there who do that for a living which is another reason why I don’t give directly to them.
Yeah, this is very common. Local news caught a gal doing it here a while back. She shamelessly agreed to an interview. Her position was they gave it to her and they weren’t obligated.
A few years ago a group of professional panhandlers was busted around here. They could be found daily begging at the Terre Haute exit off I-70, pretending different disabilities and even disabled veterans. I believe that last was what finally brought them down. The State Police investigated and found out they were pretty well off, driving expensive SUVs and Mercedes Benz autos. When the weather turned cold here they would move south and continue the scam.
Here’s an honest one:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/armstrongeconomics-wp/2014/05/Panhandler.jpg
The last time I wore a uniform was the day I got out. Weird right?
Begging (soliciting) is not allowed in our little city. Not without a permit. There have been no permits issued in several decades. People still beg but the police get called as soon as they are spotted. Most of the beggars in our area just want enough to get a bottle and a squat in the local needle hotel for the night. They don’t food or a job. Food they can get out of dumpster and who needs a job?
A small few are vets. Of those most are vets with bad discharges due to substance abuse problems or other habitual criminal behavior such as sex offenses.
This group in Florida seems to have gotten them organized to some next level stuff.