CHARITABLE-GIVING SCAMS

To-day is Friday, February 19, 2010

After a talk given at the Center I visited yesterday, the following ditty came to mind as I was riding on the bus driven by Houston, the ParaTransit bus driver. Its the way I remember it but I'm not sure if I'm quoting it correctly:

You can fool some of the people, most of the time
Most of the people, some of the time
But you can't fool all the people all of the time.

...............because we have Guardian Angels. I don't mean this in a spiritual sense; its meant by me to signify only that there are people everywhere who care for their fellowmen. I know that recently many people in these United States are disillusuioned by those in the political arena, but I hope they realize that they have a choice at the polls, and that many times we do elect those that are truly dedicated to a just cause, and we need them to maintain honesty and tranquilty. I'm certainly not a political activist; I'm just a person who has lived a long time and just expressing my views. Therefore, let me continue. I sincerely believe that the services rendered to us by the office of the Attorney General is one of them. Presently, in New York State, we are honored by the man we elected, the Honorable Andrew Cuomo. (I bet he's a paesano. If so, I hope he reads my essay "The Joy of Growing-up Italian.) From my perspective, he and his staff are Guardian Angels. One of his representatives is a young man (yes, young as compared to my age) who has been extending his hand to those of us who are most vulnerable in times of catastrophies. His name is John Katzenstein. I first met him last December when he visited the Golden Age Center in Patterson, New York. We are a group of "seniors" who meet every Thursday (weather permitting), indulge in a cup-of-coffee and a bun, play bingo and cards, and chit-chat. Occasionally, we entertain a speaker (or should I say he entertains us) and John Katzenstein is one who re-visited us yesterday (February 18) specifically to warn us about charitable-giving scams perpetrated by unscrupulous members of our society on the elderly. He spoke in a very friendly manner, eloquently and informatively about the proliferation of scams, particularly caused by the recent Haitain earthquake. He alerted us to the differences between good and bad Charities and he distributed leaflets and booklets, describing in more detail many of them.

On arriving back home, and because I sat down and enjoyed reading all the leaflets I had gathered at the Center, I felt that it was incumbent upon me to share with all my friends in the World, the vast information I received directly from John Katzenstein. And, here it is: Go to your computer and.........................Oh! Oh! I'm in trouble. I don't know whether I should say "click" or "go to the website". I'm still a novice concerning computer language...and I thought stenography was difficult back in the 1920's. Anyway, just to be sure...I turned on my computer, brought up Google and typed in the words I found at the bootom of one of the leaflets: http://www.charitynavigator.org--------and/ sure enough, it brought up the websites I wanted to steer you to.

Now I ask you to please be sure this information is given to all your friends, young and old, who have not had the privilege of listening to John Katzenstein, as I have. I hope he visits us again real soon.....and I hope its okay to give you his office phone number: 914--422-8755. I don't know if he is a Blogger or a follower of other bloggers; but, if he is, I hope he is not offended that I took this liberty.

Elvira