You may have heard the catchy ‘jingle’ that advertises “Kars4Kids,” a car donation charity that you would think uses its money to help disabled or otherwise needy children. In fact, the front page of the Kars4Kids website says “Donate A Car and Give Hope To A Child.”
Well, appearances can be misleading…
Kars4Kids (a.k.a. “Joy for Our Youth,” based in Lakewood, NJ) funnels much of its donation proceeds to an organization called “Oorah,” a Jewish religious organization whose stated mission is to heighten Jewish childrens’ awareness of their heritage. According to an online report, in 2007 this amount came to $16.2 million…
So, this is a great charity if that’s what you want to support. But they also help disadvantaged Jewish children with proceeds from donations, and it’s hard to not support any charity that helps kids – even if you aren’t Jewish.
…But in the not-so-distant past, Kars4Kids has been in trouble with the Attorney General’s of Pennsylvania and Oregon, and more recently – New York City…
From the American Institute of Philanthropy website:
“Pennsylvania’s Attorney General accused JOY of publishing “advertisements that did not limit benefits to any particular group of children when, in fact, substantially all donations were remitted to Oorah, whose programs benefit a particular group of children.” In Pennsylvania, JOY was fined $45,000 in restitution to be distributed to various children’s charities in the state plus $20,000 in penalties and investigative costs. JOY was also required to add detailed disclosures to all Pennsylvania solicitations revealing the religious nature of its programs.
In Oregon, the charity was required to pay $65,000 and “change its misleading solicitation practices.” The Oregon Department of Justice took issue with the charity’s vacation voucher incentive, saying JOY “failed to disclose that its ‘free vacation’ offer was designed to recruit people to attend timeshare presentations.” Also at issue was a failure “to disclose that the organization did not benefit needy children generally, but instead directed its efforts to a narrow religious purpose.” In addition to paying the fine, JOY is now required “to clearly and conspicuously disclose that any offers of vacation vouchers are not applicable in Oregon” and to include disclosure of its religious purpose in solicitations in that state.” —– end of quote
Now keep in mind – as is the case with ALL car donation charities mentioned and featured on this website – this organization may have changed since this article was written; Kars4Kids (“Joy For Our Youth”) may distribute donations differently now. This is why it’s important for you to check out any charity you are considering yourself. Fortunately, easy links for all 50 states are on GoodwillCarDonation.org for your convenience.
Checking with one or more of the ‘charity watchdog organizations’ listed on your state’s page from the drop-down menu at GoodwillCarDonation.org is the best way to check out a charity the right way.
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