'Deceptive' Detroit-Area Firefighters Charity Ordered To Cease Operations

WYANDOTTE (WWJ) - A Wyandotte-based charity has agreed to shut down, following an investigation by the state.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says that Firefighters Support Services spent 90 percent of the money it raised on expenses and overhead, not on firefighters or fire victims as they had claimed.

The charity will be dissolved in the next two months, while its three directors will pay back nearly 150-thousand dollars over the next three years. Most of that money will go to the Southeast Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross for the purpose of home fire relief, while the remaining one-quarter will pay for the cost of the investigation.

"Michigan residents are very generous, but the unfortunate reality is that we all must be cautious of those that would exploit that generosity," Schuette said in a statement. "The directors and officers of charities have a responsibility to the public to ensure that their organization's solicitations are truthful."

Where the Donations Went

During the period of these solicitations, Firefighters Support Services raised $4.2 million from donors throughout the nation, yet the state says more than 90 percent of the charity's expenditures went to fundraising costs, salaries and administrative costs, or to programs that were not disclosed in Firefighters Support Services' solicitations.

Firefighters Support Services used a blanket donation program to exaggerate the extent of its charitable programs and its efficacy as a charity, according to the state. Firefighters Support Services apparently achieved this by obtaining donated blankets that were themselves purchased by Congress, i.e., the taxpayer, and intended to combat homelessness. Firefighters Support Services then included inflated values for the blankets on its public financial statements.

Case Background

In May, Schuette issued a Notice of Intended Action alleging that Firefighters Support Services was using a deceptive and misleading solicitation script and had filed deceptive financial statements with Schuette's office.

In the filing, Schuette alleged that Firefighters Support Services' solicitations deceived call recipients by informing them that Firefighters Support Services helps firefighters get better equipment and helps "families that have been burned out of their homes by providing them with food, shelter, and clothing" or "financial support."

The organization was unable to identify any grants of food, shelter, or clothing to families that have been burned out of their homes. Firefighters Support Services was able to identify three grants of money totaling $5,586.06 to individuals for the purpose of fire loss relief. Despite being a prominent part of its solicitations, these grants represented just one-tenth of one percent of the $4.2 million raised during this period.