Comment on Scams & waste loom as charity millions donated after Orlando

Scams & waste loom as charity millions donated after Orlando

The more than 430 fundraisers posted on the GoFundMe website after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando have exposed weaknesses inherent in these popular do-it-yourself charity campaigns: waste, questionable intentions and little oversight. The fundraisers — an average of more than four for each of the 49 killed and 53 wounded — include travelers asking for cash, a practitioner of ancient healing, a personal safety instructor who sells quick loaders for assault rifles, and even convicted identity impostors. The crowdfunding sites operate outside traditional charitable circles and often beyond the reach of government regulation. The Associated Press examined 30 campaigns chosen from throughout the lengthy list produced by a GoFundMe search for "Orlando shootings." A high school basketball coach raised $15,297 for the family of Akyra Murray, a star player who had just graduated before dying in the attack. Another organizer raised just $25 for travel money to hold a community healing ceremony inspired by ancient shamanic rituals. Efe Atalay, of Clermont, Florida, raised $1,145 from 81 donors to buy security wands for nightclub entrances, but didn't say which clubs and spoke vaguely of lobbying politicians to require such security measures. Bobby Whithorne, a GoFundMe spokesman, said the website's staffers were vetting the Orlando campaigns before releasing funds, and only a small fraction of a percent of past appeals involved outright fraud. Ken Feinberg, administrator for the centralized fund, has already held two town hall meetings with survivors and family members of the victims. Florida bars anyone convicted in the past decade of certain crimes, including identity fraud, from running a charity. Yet, court records show Bellefleur was convicted in 2012 of buying $3,570 worth of furniture by impersonating the son of an account holder, and Naulings was convicted in 2008 of giving police a false

 

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