Charity Begins At Home, Unless It's Coming From Planet Aid

Local property owner wants national charity to pay up.

Ira owns and runs a laundromat in Brooklyn. Last February 2009, he entered into an agreement to let a non-profit organization called "Planet Aid" to park one of their drop off containers on his property.

As Ira told Howard, "A very nice guy named Sean Johnson came here and wanted to put a box in my parking lot and said he would pay me $70 a month for basically doing nothing".

Because it was for a charity and Ira didn't need to do anything, he thought it sounded like a great deal and said yes.

Now one year later, the "Planet Aid" container box is still sitting on his property but he hasn't seen a dime from them yet.

Ira says he waited a while at first, then he called "Planet Aid's" New Jersey office several times. Each time he was told that someone would get back to him about the situation, but no one ever did.

According to Ira, "Planet Aid" workers continue to come to his laundromat and empty the container box of clothing, so it is being used and serving a purpose. They don't come on a regularly scheduled basis, but whenever they do show up, no one leaves him a check.

"Planet Aid's website describes them as a non-profit organization, which collects funds, clothes, and other resources to support community development and poverty relief around the world.

Help Me Howard wanted to know more about "Planet Aid's" operation, so he contacted the American Institute of Philanthropy, (AIP) a national charity watchdog service, whose purpose is to help donors make informed giving decisions.

According to AIP's President, Daniel Borochoff, "Planet Aid" gets an "F" rating from the American Institute of Philanthropy because only 44% of their budget goes to actual charitable programs. He goes on to say that it costs Planet Aid $76 to raise $100, which means that when someone donates clothing or shoes into one of their drop-off container boxes, less then a quarter or 24% is actually going to charitable programs.

According to AIP, "most of the money it raised last year, which is between 15-16 million dollars, is going to those clothing collection bins and the processing which they generally sell in use of their operations."

Howard paid a visit to "Planet Aid's" New Jersey office in Clifton to ask about Ira's payment and to give them a chance to tell their side of the story, but no one would speak to him there.

Still frustrated and waiting for his check, Ira told Howard: "I'm very upset and disapppointed that I'm not getting paid and the clothes that are supposed to be donated and put to good use are going into somebody's pocket and somebody's taking money off of those trying to help other people".

Howard finally did get a statement from the President of "Planet Aid", who had this to say:

"Planet Aid works to support people and communities in some of the poorest regions in the world through philanthropic work and partnerships with U.S.-government agencies including USAID and the US Department of Agriculture. Grant support and funds generated from clothing donations, (51,000 tons of used clothing and shoes in 2009) provides more than $16 million to development projects that address health, education, food production and economic security. We appreciate the continued support of our partners and remain committed to helping poor and disadvantaged communities develop responsibly and sustainably and improve lives for themselves and future generations."

For more information about "Planet Aid" and other charities go to www.charitywatch.org

Produced By Monique Singhroy