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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
QUESTIONS: 414-328-8910
Date: Feb 2, 2008
AIP Report on Veterans Organizations
AIP Report on Veterans Organizations Deeply Unfair and Flawed
Paralyzed Veterans of America takes extreme exception to the recent report by the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP) on veterans organizations. We believe the report to be deeply unfair to Paralyzed Veterans and the brave heroes that we’ve worked for six decades to help and empower.
Seventy three percent (73%) of all donations received by Paralyzed Veterans directly benefits our veterans—we report 64.5% on our tax returns because we absorb the overhead costs of the program work for our three foundations. In this AIP report, Paralyzed Veterans gets the same grade as an organization that invests only 2 percent. Most reasonable-minded people would feel that this is not exactly a fair way to grade anything.
The AIP report penalizes Paralyzed Veterans for having an emergency reserve fund. This is just good business, as any financial planner will advise. Thousands of veterans depend on us to help them get the benefits and services they deserve — rain or shine. We have a responsibility to our members and their families — and our emergency reserve fund lets us be prepared to fulfill our obligations, even when our nation is undergoing a crisis, such as September 11. The fact that the report views financial emergency preparedness and fiscal responsibility negatively is one of its biggest flaws.
For 61 years, Paralyzed Veterans of America and our local chapters have been fighting for all veterans, people with disabilities, and their families. Here are just some of the highlights of our work over the past six decades:
• We’ve helped to increase the life span—and the quality of life paralyzed veterans now enjoy—from zero to near normal, in just six decades;
• We helped lead the charge for the Americans with Disabilities Act, making our nation more accessible for everyone;
• We’ve fought for and secured more than $3 billion in benefits for our brave service members and veterans;
• We’ve invested more than $50 million in research for a cure for paralysis.
• We’re the voice of paralyzed veterans in the White House, on Capitol Hill and throughout America; and,
• We pioneered wheelchair sports and have presented (along with the Department of Veterans Affairs) the National Veterans Wheelchair Games for the past 22 years, the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world.
We encourage you to read through our website www.pva.org to find out more about the A-plus work we do.
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Wisconsin Paralyzed Veterans of America
2311 South 108th Street
West Allis, WI 53227-1901
414-328-8910
<http://www.wisconsinPVA.org/>
info@wisconsinPVA.org
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