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News :: Miscellaneous |
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IDF Misappropriates Funds for 3rd Year Running |
Current rating: 0 |
by Prairieland CSA
Email: abarnes (nospam) prairienet.org (unverified!) |
01 Oct 2001
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The Champaign-based Illinois Disciples Foundation may be intentionally misleading U of I employees for the third year in a row by claiming the charitable functions of other nonprofits as its own in the U of I Campus Charitable Fund Drive Directory. |
For the third year in a row, the Illinois Disciples Foundation is trying to make U of I employees believe that donating to it will put food in the hands of the poor by continuing to claim Prairieland Community Supported Agriculture as a program.
The reality is that PCSA hasn't been an IDF program since 1999. When IDF listed PCSA as a program under the foundation's listing under the Public Interest Fund of Illinois in the 1999 U of I Campus Charitable Fund Drive, PCSA board members believed that the IDF probably didn't have time to correct the entry before the publication went to press. At that time, they simply requested IDF to not list PCSA in future directories.
When the listing appeared in the 2000 directory, PCSA contacted the Public Interest Fund of Illinois directly and was assured that the correction would be made for the 2001 directory.
Now that IDF has tried to claim PCSA as a program for the third year running in the directory, PCSA has requested the U of I Chancellor's office to investigate the matter and potentially issue a campus-wide correction to donors.
Adding to the appearance of inpropriety:
· The point person for the Public Interest Fund of Illinois is housed at an organization headed by a current member and former head of the IDF board.
· When it left, PCSA was the only IDF program to be engaged in direct service to low-income individuals-distributing nearly 10% of its produce shares to low-income families and individuals in Champaign-Urbana with the help of individual and local congregation donations ranging from $10 to $500.
· The PIF directory remains the only venue in which IDF claims PCSA as a program.
For more information about PCSA's low-income food distribution program, see http://www.prairienet.org/pcsa/ |
