New England Teens / Youth

[jd-science.livejournal.com]

has anyone been approached by young men selling $5 candy to support something called the New England Youth Foundation or New England Teen Foundation? i've run into these guys twice now, once in Porter and once in Central, and their credentials consist of a piece of printed paper inside a plastic sleeve. They have no website, no contact information, just a name of a founder (Keith Something or Other, I regret I've forgotten his last name), and an address (14 Talbot Ave in Dorchester, which shows up on Google Maps as a parking lot, and which is next to the Boys and Girls Club, which is at 15 Talbot Ave).

I want to support kids selling stuff as a fundraiser (I like candy), but not if they're being dishonest, and especially not if it's an organized scam.

Comments

[ron_newman]

14 Talbot Ave. should be across the street from 15 rather than next door. Google Maps isn't always very good about showing what side of the street an address is on.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Google has nothing on either. This sounds a lot like the guys trying to get $20 out of people to "fight racism" that used to be around DTX, right down to the plastic protector.

[ron_newman]

Are these the same people who in a very loud voice try to sell candy on subway trains?

[toonhead-npl.livejournal.com]

... for their non-existent basketball teams that seem to play year round?

[teratomarty.livejournal.com]

Pure scam, especially if they can't keep their own name straight. They print up some "info sheet," put it in a plastic sleeve, steal a box of candy from CVS or wherever and they're in business. Legitimate organisations, like the Boy and Girl Scouts, will always have some kind of insignia, a verifiable address and (most importantly) an adult on the scene keeping an eye on things.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Why would there necessarily be "an adult on the scene keeping an eye on things". I thought much of boy and girl scouts was to teach kids how to live life rather than teaching children to be dependent on mommy and daddy (often well into their late 20's or beyond) as is such the rage these days.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

Because leaving a few 8 year old girls in a subway station by themselves isn't a good idea, if they like not getting sued.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

So you're saying I should be sued for letting my son use the subways and buses unaccompanied (actually he was 10 when we started to let him go places on his own)? It is not exceptional for kids to use public transit (not school buses) to get to and from elementary school in and around boston or for that matter pretty much anywhere else.
There are no leash laws for children. They are allowed to be out of the house on their own. It is only a problem when they don't know how to handle themselves (this is legally covered under child endangerment but the definitions are kept extremely fuzzy with very few bright lines). Sadly, as I posted above, we as a society keep increasing our childrens dependence on their parents to the point that now the typical "legal adult" of age 18 has yet to learn how to live unsupervised.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying kids shouldn't be let out alone. (I was using the Jerusalem bus system, notorious for its suicide bombers, at 8)
But if a child gets kidnapped, or even just groped inappropriately by a grown up in a subway station while selling Girl Scout cookies unsupervised, I'm sure the parents will sue the organization. And this isn't a far out conjecture. Unfortunately, even grown women can not avoid being groped on subways, and it's not because they "don't know how to handle themselves".

[mjperson.livejournal.com]

It's quite popular around here to pull the photocopied piece of paper in a plastic sleeve (sometimes in a three ring binder) as credentials. Unless they are also accompanied by a recently issued permit from the local police department, complete with call number, assume they are a scam. All the legitimate operators are registered with the police and won't mind you checking that out.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It's also fun to ask them if you can take their sheet of paper to a nearby photocopy place. You know, for tax purposes, so you can claim the candy as a charitable deduction.

[ron_newman]

Except that if you get something (like a candy bar) back from your donation, it's not tax-deductible.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

The difference between the value of the item and what you paid for it is tax deductable though.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I know that. You know that. Do they know that?

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Some shady founder guy? I hope it's not a cult.

[themotionsick.livejournal.com]

I kind of hope it is a cult! A candy selling cult!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

No, L. Ron Hubbard's been dead for a while.

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

Smells like a scam to me. In general, I advocate asking for an npo's 501c3 number before giving to them. And personally, I never give to people who ask me for money on the street or over the phone, but that's a personal call, obviously. (NB: I do fundraising for a living. :)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

You card the Girl Scouts when they're selling cookies, don't you? :-)

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

I usually just ask if the cookies are made from real Girl Scouts. :)

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

The closest match I could find at the IRS site was Teen Challenge New England. For future reference, the IRS charity search engine is here: http://apps.irs.gov/app/pub78

[tenshikurai9.livejournal.com]

Asked for a web site and got a claim of being associated with the Boston Globe and that I could find a link at their site. Didn't see one. Someone else ask for a web site and see if they answer the same way.