Pubdate: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 Source: Daily News, The (Bogalusa, LA) Copyright: 2007 The Daily News Contact: http://www.edailynews.info/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1325 Author: John H. Walker, The Daily News Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States) LOW-PERCENTAGE OF FUND-RAISER BACK TO DARE BOGALUSA - Officials from a Baton Rouge-based company have been in the city recently, but the DARE funds they are raising may not be getting back to local programs. Charlie Thames is affiliated with SMG and is based in Baton Rouge. His company is a fund-raising organization and recently had people working in Bogalusa on behalf of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). The only problem is that for every dollar someone "donates" to DARE through Thames' firm, only about a nickel makes it to the organization. "It's all legal," Thames said. "We have a contract with DARE America and do this all over the country." "This," according to one local resident who was solicited after shopping at Winn-Dixie, was to ask for donations to DARE. The resident, who made a donation and received a receipt, said she asked the solicitor how much money stayed in Washington Parish. "He said he was from Baton Rouge and didn't know," she said. Upon verifying the "donation" with her online bank account, the donor said she noticed there was sales tax charged to her "donation." In addition, while she felt she was making a donation to DARE, the transaction showed online as "Sentinel Market" while the receipt shows "SMG Charity." Thames said there was no donation, but rather a purchase of DARE merchandise. "That's why there was a sales tax," he said. But the donor maintains she was told she would receive the items - a plastic coffee cup and a T-shirt - in exchange for the donation. "There was no purchase," she said, adding, "I was asked for a donation and felt I was making a donation." "No, it was a donation," Thames said. "We charged the sales tax because we have to (collect tax) on every sale." The donor was disappointed to learn that only about a nickel on the dollar - or 75 cents - would go to DARE and that the odds of any of those few coins making it back to Washington Parish were slim. "That's not what I wanted," she said - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake