Wyandotte 'Firefighter' Charity Raised $4.2M, Gave $5.6K: State

WYANDOTTE, MI – A charity known as Firefighters Support Services of Wyandotte and its professional fundraiser, Southfield-based Associated Community Services, raised $4.2 million from donors through “misleading” and “deceptive” practices, but never made promised grants of any substance to “families that have been burned out of their homes,” state investigators said Wednesday

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a news release that his office has filed notice that it intends to ask for a cease-and-desist order, which would effectively close down the charity and stop Associated Community Services from soliciting donations on its behalf.

The charity identified only three small grants — totaling less than $5,600, or one-tenth of 1 percent of the $4.2 million raised during the campaign — and those grants went to individuals, not the families the charity promised to help with assistance for food, shelter and clothing, Schuette said. Fundraisers also told donors their contributions would help fire departments buy better equipment, Schuette said.

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“This is another example of a sympathetic cause — firefighters and those losing their homes from fire — being exploited by scammers,” Schuette said in the statement, cautioning donors:

The best defense against such scams is to do your homework or donate to a known charity. You don’t know who’s on the other end of the call or whether you can trust them.”

The action isn’t a criminal complaint, but Schuette said the investigation showed the professional fundraiser violated laws governing charitable solicitations in virtually all of the 2 million calls made for the charity.

Schuette also said he plans to sue the Wyandotte charity to obtain refunds for donors and civil fines of up to $10,000 “per violation for every one of Firefighters Support Services’ more than two million violations.”

Schuette also alleged that Firefighters Support Services has made numerous false statements on its annual financial statements that it files with both the IRS and the Attorney General.

In fact, the blankets were purchased by Congress for $4.97 per blanket with the purpose of combating homelessness, Schuette said, noting the per-blanket cost even includes free shipping to charities around the country that have been endorsed to participate in the program.

Firefighters Support Services, which has not been endorsed to participate in the Congressional program, obtains the blankets from the charity World Assist and pays thousands of dollars per shipment to a third-party, Charity Services International, to ship the blankets to various fire stations around the country, Schutte said.

“Firefighters Support Services does not disclose this ‘charitable’ program to donors,” Schuette said, noting that reports to the IRS and the attorney general, the activity is described as providing “medical supplies to various fire departments.”

Schuette also reminded Michiganders that some telemarketers, such as Associated Community Services in the present case, keep 85 percent or more of each donation. He encouraged donors to research their own charities and to give directly to the charity.

For more information, see the Attorney General’s 2015 Professional Fundraising Charitable Solicitation Report.