I’m all for organizations that help the needy. I’ve donated to the September 11th fund and countless other organizations that send me a yearly envelope for donations. I give my clothing to Good Will rather than throwing it out when it’s still wearable but might not fit me anymore. I’ve donated to both my former high school and college, almost on a yearly basis. I buy a poppy for Memorial Day and give cash to armies, scouts, cubs, cheerleaders, and other retail store front collections. Tonight I got a call from the Shriners and they will never get a red cent from me again.
It started out innocently enough. I got a call from “Help Line” according to my Caller ID, and I figured it might be a store or online shipping center calling me, so I actually answered it. There was a fairly pushy woman on the other line identifying herself as a representative of the Shriners’ Fund Raising organization. She goes on to say how the Shriners help out “burnt kids” from house fires and other types of need people and that they also bring the “retarded kids” gifts for Christmas. [Her words are in the quotes – not mine!] She stops and then asks me that if she “sends out an envelope to me, would I send in a donation of $25 or $50.”
Now, I’ve been out of work since the beginning of August. I’ve been actively looking for a new job for over five months but the sad truth is that there’s not many software programming opportunities in Connecticut. The longer I’m out of work, the more frustrating being out of work is, and after two months of it I’m already greatly annoyed by it. One of the side effect of living off unemployment is a decreased intake of Starbucks coffee. I’ve also greatly decreased my usually large toy-budget to at least one tenth of its usual size. Another change, sadly, is a pause on all donations. It’s pretty simple: when I have cash, I try to donate it to groups that I think make good use of it – the Sept. 11 fund was a no brain’r seeing as the people in the financial sector were directly responsible for helping me make money in the first place. The other organizations I consider as they approach me.
So when this woman asked me for a pledge, I politely told her that “I wasn’t able to make a donation at this time because I’m currently out of work.”
She responds with, “What about $10 or $20 then?”
“Hey, if you want to send me an envelope, fine, but I can’t commit to anything,” I say, start to think that she’s a bit cheeky.
“Oh,” she replies, “not even $10? Say, a friend of mine works for Sikorsky out there and was working there for like 26 years and she just got laid off. What’s going on out there?”
“Work is getting hard to come by in Connecticut. Everything seems to be slowing down a bit and it isn’t rebounding quickly here,” I say.
“Yeah. Well. What about just $5? Can’t you give $5?”
“Um, like I said: if you send me an envelope I will try but I cannot commit to a pledge at this time,” I repeat to her.
“Oh. What about unemployment? Aren’t you collecting from the state?” she pries.
This is where I got a bit annoyed. Who the fuck is this chick, to ask me about my finances? She asked me a question; I answered. I didn’t even say no – I said maybe, and I would asset it when I got the request for cash. And you know what? There was a 50-50 shot that I would have sent in $10 or $20 when I got the request in my hands – something about seeing it in person makes it harder to dismiss than it is over a phone, after all. I tell her that, “I am collecting but it’s a nominal amount – I cannot commit to a pledge right now.”
“Oh. Well maybe next year.” *CLICK* as she hangs up on me. She hangs up on me! She intrudes in my house and bothers me for money and then gives me attitude because I can’t help her because I’m out of work?
Well, guess what happens now: Shriners, don’t ever call me to ask for donations again – you’ve been black listed from my home and won’t get a dime from me again.
The sad part of all these telemarketer fundraisers is that only a small percentage of the money they collect actually makes it to the organization raising funds. Most of it, like 80% I’m told, goes to the company hired to call. Ask them next time one calls you and watch them dance.
The actual REAL sad part is that many of these organizations have very good intentions and are legitimate. Of COURSE some of their proceeds are used for operations purposes and there are no organizations whose proceeds exceed more than half, believe me. The fact is that it is difficult to find employees who WANT to cold call for donations and it is a very difficult job indeed, so many companies end up with employees that have no real phone etiquette and are somewhat disgruntled! But the Shriner’s Burn Hospitals ARE a good cause so please don’t punish the children because you experienced one bad call from an unprofessional nincompoop :)
donate on line directly to Shriners hospitals not a telemarketing organization definately not Moore Telemarketing or ant temple they are representing Same for the circus put on by the shriners and this company
Do not deal with the Moore group. They are trash.
You’re 100% correct. I know people who used to work for him. He teaches his people to be pushy. But the biggest problem she had with them is that they are Muslims pretending to be Christians. She said they were cruel to their employees. If an employee fails to meet their quota. They have their already too small hourly pay cut by 50%. If they fail even then. They stop paying them all together, but invite them to stay and keep working for free. Moore says all the exotic names they call all the different lodges were made up by two guys sitting in a bar back in 1933. BUT… All these exotic names have been attached to these lodges for hundreds of years? She says that while she was there. A Shriner died while he was on vacation with his wife in another country. She gave him a Christian burial there. When she got back the other shriners raised all kinds of holy hell. Because being a Shriner. He was supposed to have been buried with ancient mystical rites. Which were evidently NOT Christian! So according to her. There’s something real shady about the shriners!
give directly to the shriners on line or TV ad call that way you are sure you are dealing with legit people SHRINERS AND ST JUDE are excellent charity’s thank you
Do Not give any money to Shriners hospital. They have been in trouble multiple times for their shady practices. A quick Google search of Shriners past scams and other shady practices have earned them a reputation and rating as one of the worst organizations currently out there. They make great commercials with beautiful young kids to make people feel bad and open their wallets unfortunately the money doesnt make it to the kids. Google the top earner of Shriners he make millions per month !!!
Yes it’s okay to use suck, disabled kids to beg for money on several different stations at least twenty times a day. Just saw it again and it’s 10 pm. To me it’s the same as working kids in sweat shops!!! I’m sure it costs for commercial time. I’m tired of all the propaganda and feeding citizens like we don’t have a brain. I think legally this should be looked into. These children should be in school not in front of cameras begging for money. Do parents have to sign contracts for their children to do this? Anybody asked kids if they want to beg for money?
You really need to do your research, Shriners earn NO pay or incentive for what they do!!!!!
I was a patient and now unfortunately so is my child. The Shriners Hospital in Tampa, fl. has been wonderful for us. The Shrine Temple helps with travel funds and paid hotel stay when needed. We can’t afford insurance and the hospital treats children up to 18 years old free of charge. My child has had 2 procedures so far to help extend his leg. We are very grateful for their services. I’m sorry you had a bad experience with them, but because of the Shriners Hospital, my child can walk and stand straight.
You do not have a clue about what you are talking about. Visit a Shriner’s Hospital. Talk to the parent’s of the kids there. Learn for yourself as to just how full of it you are. You do a terrible disservice to an outstanding organization. To talk without knowledge is criminal.
I kinda thought that the commercials and some of the things advertised isn’t true. How are they paying for commercials, and events or anything that isn’t treatment. I wonder how much Danny Thomas’s daughter makes.
Gina, Shriners have nothing to do with Danny or Marlo Thomas. That’s St. Jude hospital….
Fred, Shriners International and Shriners Hospitals for Children have NEVER been in trouble for “shady” practices. There are a number of third party fundraisers that have been sued for using the Shriners’ name for false fundraising. and there are a number of companies still out there like Shrine Services, and Moore Marketing that make calls calling themselves shriners, but are not. Get your facts straight.
Hey Fred, sir I am a lifetime member of Yaarab Shrine in Atlanta Ga.
You are so wrong sir on what you are saying.
I have never heard of a Shriner scam but have heard numerous testimonies from people who was treated by our 22 hospitals and how they are still alive today because of the services our hospitals render. Please get your facts straight.
That’s not true. You can look them up on Charity Navigator and see that 93.25% of the money they make goes to their efforts and their highest paid executive, the Chief of Staff James Mooney III, makes $675,806 per year, not millions per month.
Source: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/042121377
Your an idiot
You aresofar from the truth, and you can’t come up with any proof to what you have written. I’m a Shriner proud to be one, and if you would ever visit a SHRINERS Hospital for Kids talk to the kids and their parents, you would find that you’re spreading false information. Please visit a Hospital and talk to some of the employees, parents, and especially the kids and see for yourself. Don’t believe the negative comments you see, or hear. Noble Patrick Kelley Hejaz Shriner Union South Carolina.
A lot of donors to pay wages at $19 a month.the add the commercials. I wonder if the kids get any benefits.
The average Shriners Hospital for Children executive compensation is $267,750 a year.The median estimated compensation for executives at Shriners Hospital for Children including base salary and bonus is $249,959, or $120 per hour. At Shriners Hospital for Children, the most compensated executive makes $720,000, annually, and the lowest compensated makes $52,000
That’s the proper way, and 85% goes to the cause, which is a great return. I know a child that needed help, and Shriners was great for that family. That’s where my donations go, to Shriners. Don’t donate to the marketers.
The other issue is that many telemarketers that call are not even related to the company’s that they claim to be representing. They are trying to scam people out of their money. They keep it all.
The average Shriners Hospital for Children executive compensation is $267,750 a year.The median estimated compensation for executives at Shriners Hospital for Children including base salary and bonus is $249,959, or $120 per hour. At Shriners Hospital for Children, the most compensated executive makes $720,000, annually, and the lowest compensated makes $52,000
I’m with you Alisha, the dude from Connecticut that claimed by ranting that he’s an out work software programmer truly took out his ugly frustration by his lack of employment or shall I say his ability to Morf into another work enviroment and become a participant of the work life style, he instead bashed a women who was a gainful worker. So my suggestion to this ugly persons rant who boast about giving to charities should apply for a job at said charities. Even a vollenteer position may have kept his once bright, open mind from becoming puny. May God forgive him for writing such an ugly thought from a puny mind that which will stay out here in space virtually forever!
God will do what he wants with me but I would rather s/he smite the organizing in question. Props for bringing back a post from 2003 :)
When your daughter needs extensive casting and braces on both legs to the tune of 10k and you live on $2,000 a month and are overwhelmed knowing that insurance only pays 60% and the kind woman from Shriners orthopedic department tells you not to worry another minute because they will never ask for one dime above what insurance pays, you might be more inclined to forgive the one snotty donation seeker. Your story doesn’t sound even remotely like anything I’ve experienced with Shriners. For years I watched my daughter fall down, be ridiculed and wake up with painful cramps in the middle of the night. Shriners treated us with such kindness and even helped with gas money for our weekly commutes 360 miles to have her casts changed. We’ve Not seen a single bill and never will. So maybe you could get over the snotty lady and look at the big picture. Children getting the help they need when their hard-working mother just doesn’t have an extra $10,000 laying around and just needs kindness to help her child walk like the other kids at school.
Who is the other guy to judge you and then use God in the same sentence or paragraph
jolle has it right. My daughter has scoliosis of the spine and the casting every 6 weeks for last 3 years and x-rays and everything else would be astronomical for us to even begin to pay for, even after insurance. Shriner has been nothing but kind, generous, and helpful beyond words to my daughter and our family. Its because good people who can and do donate that my daughter has the opportunity to be helped and live a normal life. I would bankrupt myself to pay for her treatments, but because of caring and gracious donations and the staff at Shriners St. Louis, we can keep our heads just above the water.
All of those companies are scams. By law they only have to give 5% of what they collected, and they usually cheat on that amount too.
Most people don’t like to hear the truth. Anyone bashing you should think twice. God doesn’t judge anyone, so what gives anyone to judge you. That doesn’t say much about them, does it?
As a prior patient of Shriners this makes truly sick. The call you received was a scam. Not maybe, it was. Shriners does not cold call, nor does judge people for not being able to donate.
Comparing Shriners to the 9/11 fund it also very disappointing. That event was horrible and people are still being affected by it. But I bet you didn’t realize victims from 9/11 may have been treated at Shriners!!! And that was one event.
Shriners treats every child and teenager no matter the cost. No questions asked. My parents could have afforded my surgery, but it would have drained mine and my sisters college fund. We would be dependent on the state.
Now, you may not be able to put this together, but since shriners took me as a patient they saved the STATE money. Not just my family.
The post complained about being judged. Yet you judged an entire medical facility on ONE phone call. Did you do any research? You probably weren’t talking to shriners, idiot. I’m sooooo sorry you can’t afford Starbucks. Maybe next time you’re ruining the earth by creating more trash (instead of making coffee at home) you’ll realize it doesn’t matter how people talk to you on the phone.
What matters is Dr. D’Mata of Shriners hospital in Portland or. Without him I would be dead right now. I would rather deal with one horrible telemarketer then watch all the poor children of this country die.
By posting this you’ve made stupid people think it’s okay to think shriners is bad or useless. They won’t do their own research. There is a special layer in hell for people like you,
Maybe you’d rather people like me die, to help prove you’re point. Also, why is the 99% of the post is about how altruistic you are? Such a lie. If you were really like that, a pushy telemarketer wouldn’t bother you. It would also bother you to talk SHIT about a good, non profit, saint like hospital. If I could I’d beat the shit out of you. Then watch as you realize how expensive medical bills are when you’re unemployed.
And don’t worry. I’ll find way to get this deleted. I’ve done it before.
Shriners saves lives. Judgement kills.
You call out above that people are entitled to free speech. True in America, but the Internet is an international network. Further, while people can say whatever they want – provided they take responsibility for it – but as this is my blog, I decide what is and is not posted. Seeing as this post is nearly 16 years old, I’m quite content that you will not be finding a way to delete it, so there is that. Lastly, I’m not sure where your “die” comment is coming from. I don’t wish anyone on this thread personal harm nor have I said anything that should have given that impression.
That aside, “judging” is having an opinion about something or someone or someone’s action. That’s it – it’s really nothing more. If you judge me as a bad person because I had a horrible call over a decade ago from an organization that harassed me for not giving them money while I was out of work, then by all means: think of me as a bad person. You’re entitled to that opinion! It doesn’t bother me because I don’t know you.
You opinion means absolutely nothing to me because you aren’t someone in my life. If someone I knew had that opinion, I would respect that and it would cause me to reflect and possibly even take action.
People I now, I trust and value. People I don’t know? Their opinions don’t weigh on me in the slightest. People forget this little insight all day long on Twitter; that’s their business. For me? Think whatever you like and you’re more than welcomed to continue to comments in support of the organization you cherish.
You sound as if you work with the rude telemarketer who called him. Say…how much were you paid to make is ignorant rant of yours?
Point is it was extremely rude of that caller to implore upon this author in such a rude manner, coming off as a solicitor. No one wants to deal with that.
Also, people experience setbacks such as unemployment sometimes and should not be pressured into donating, especially when there are those who make tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars and don’t donate a penny.
I commend the author for bringing attention to this encounter and understand that it wasnt to shun Shriner’s itself but those so called “reps” who improperly represent such charities and give them a bad name.
This was toward Roy, btw
I’m sorry but i disagree with you he is shunning shriners itself when he says “they won’t receive one red cent from him” people should never try to discredit a place because of one smart ass person
Do Not give any money to Shriners hospital. They have been in trouble multiple times for their shady practices. A quick Google search of Shriners past scams and other shady practices have earned them a reputation and rating as one of the worst organizations currently out there. They make great commercials with beautiful young kids to make people feel bad and open their wallets unfortunately the money doesnt make it to the kids. Google the top earner of Shriners he make millions per month !!! People are quick to claim they know it all but a small amount of due diligence would show them Shriners is a scam. I’m glad they have helped some people out without the person having any financial responsibility.. ? While Shriners exec’s pocket millions. Check out how much money actually makes it to the poor kids in the commercials.. Shriners rates amongst the worst of any “charity” out there. Pennies for your dollars
You are worse than him for the way you trashed him. Please respect people.
You are worse than him for the way you trashed him. Please respect people. @ Roy S
No one was putting a gun to the guy’s head to stay on the call. I’ve worked at a Shriner’s call center in Canada, & other call centers, these places don’t always hire the most intelligent people and when they have sales targets to meet, sometimes manners get thrown out the window. I had lots of call center exp. and know how to get results without being pushy or impolite. A high percentage of the donations….or show ticket revenue goes to the cause not the employers/employees, and we weren’t paid a high wage, above minimum wage that was fair with commissions. If you don’t want people to call you, ANSWER YOUR PHONE AND TELL THEM TO REMOVE YOU FROM THEIR CALL LIST. In Canada at least, they arent allowed to call you after this request. Donate to Shriners online as well, it’s a great cause as other posts have said.
The Moore group will continue to call you even after you tell them to drop you from the list. When confronted with this fact, one caller told me they are not allowed to remove your name no matter what you tell them. He told me that was Moore’s (Timmy…Dwight…I can’t remember) rule. He made the rules. I honestly feel these people are thieves. They keep far more than they forward.
Wow. What a harsh assessment. Do not judge lest ye be judged! Did you not see that he gives to many charities? That’s commendable and he is not obligated to do so. A person who is unemployed is typically living on a shoe string budget. Why nag for money and make him feel worse?
Actually, you are called on to render true judgments. Stop cherry picking.
Ann, The Bible says that there is a time to judge! It’s in John 7:24 and is called RIGHTEOUS JUDGEMENT! It means to judge the sin ( action of whet they are song) NOT to condemn but to reconcile them back to God. This teaching is hardly ever taught in our churches but it NEEDS to be! Judge not means not to judge th person themself but judged the practice ! Righteous means to be right with God……If we weren’ to ever Judge then there would be NO judges in our court system. .AMEN!
As someone also bringing back a post from 2003, I just had to comment on Roy’s superior grammatical skills. I “volenteer” to “Morf” him a gainfully employed (singular) “women.”
Please don’t give any money not one dime to a bunch of dope dealing drunks to pay for their drunken parties and trips never knew not one mason or shinerb who was a decent or moral person
Than you have never really known a Shriner. I have never known one who uses or deals dope, that is against God and everything that the Shrine stands for. Yes, some Shriners’ unfortunately do drink and probably to excess, but so do a lot of individuals. Give credit where it is due. The Shrine hospitals for Crippled children and for burn victims, give free care to both kinds of patients. Not a dime of what you give goes for anything else.
They totally discriminate against women.
You can’t really bash someone for using their right of speech and and their right not to donate. Everyone has financial problems so bashing someone for not having a job is pretty petty and bashing someone for bashing someone is hypocritical and rude. As a good Christian or whatever you may identify with you’re being incredibly insensitive. If someone is going to harass me because I don’t give them my money I wouldn’t donate either. If they want people to donate they should invest in proper training for the people asking. Fact of the matter is if everyone who could realistically donate, those with excessive money for example, if they would donate these companies wouldn’t even need to worry about convincing people to donate. I guess my point is if you’re going to be a part of donating then do it. If you can’t then mind your business and do what YOU can instead of bashing people for being in a frustrating situation. Trust me unemployment doesn’t happen because it’s fun and you want to deprive other people of your money. Even if you did your money is your own concern and NOBODY elses.
I have to say something about free speech and judgement because there appears the be major confusion .
If he gets free speech, so does everyone else. So you can’t bash people for bashing him, get it?
Also to get technical about God… ya go by the New Testament and generally is “thou without sin may throw the first stone”
You can’t get angry with anyone for judging him, because he judged Shriners. Two wrongs don’t make a wrong.
enjoy you’re free speech and stop telling people their right to speak is wrong. Be a normal internet troll and just say their ideas are stupid
You’re a con artist, They call to Savannah GA as well and insist picking up the check at your door or a credit card. They couldn’t even tell me which kids go to the Shrine circus or the address of the local Alee shrine. I was told that Chris Moore was in charge, and they told me NOT to give money to a Shriner because they put it in a big pot.
What did he do wrong? They called him, he didn’t call them. She solicited a donation, he said he wasn’t in position at this time financially to commit to a pledge, she continued and started becoming intrusive. He finally said, send me the envelope and I’ll see what if anything I able to contribute. That’s a fair response in my opinion. I am fortunate enough to be employed but if she started pulling that crap on me, becoming pushy and trying to guilt me into something, I would be annoyed as well. I think your comments are ridiculous.
I feel that this gentleman has every right to be upset with the lady that called him wanting a donation. Yes, she was very rude but extending the anger to the Shriners is totally out of bounds. I am married to a shriner and they do not operate in the same manner as this employee who made this call while working for the contracted fund raising company. In fact, I do not know of a Shrine group that uses contracted people to do their fundraising for them. Sounds like you might have been shamed . A lot of this groups fund raising comes from the Shrine Circus.
If I say no from the getgo I mean no. Don’t keep asking. That is also very rude. Telemarketer has no idea what the person is going through period
What an asshole response to the out of work programmer.
I’ve had the exact same experience. I’m sure the organization is very good but their sales tactics are very pushy. I had a fast talking guy call me and was very pushy and tried putting a guilt trip on me about not helping kids when I asked what percent of the money goes to the kids they are helping. I actually donate a lot of money every year and wanted to know more about the charity. After I wasn’t satisfied I said I would think about it and worked my way off the phone. He called over and over being more and more pushy each time.
Well, God said leave the judging to him please.
Ditto. They’re a very good at what they do. I was unemployed for a time also and many people don’t understand the difficulty. However you’re right. DON’T MAKE THE KIDS SUFFER FOR THAT CALL. Good luck.
I was looking at this because we have a rude person calling we dontate every year . This year our 17 year old daughter took her life when I explained not this year and the reason the guy told me one thing has nothing to do with the other . My Daughter passed on August 21,2016 the call a week later .
I cannot imagine the pain and suffering of losing a child. I am sorry for your loss. God bless and strengthen you.
I am so sorry that man had no compassion for your loss…I too lost a child and understand your grief and unmeasurable pain… There before the GRACE OF GOD GO I and I don’t wish at all that he experience what we have I am merely saying that NOONE will wver know what your going through till they experience the same thing….My LOVE to you and your family..GOD BLESS YOU!
I can’t imagine your pain. I’m so sorry for the tragic loss of your daughter.
God bless you and your family! I’m sooooo sorry you were treated that way ! I noticed this also because of the date,my first grandbaby was born that day!!! Something just put it in my heart to notice and try to comfort a fellow mommy! If you need an ear, I lost my little one in 2014 suddenly and unexpectedly, I completely understand!!! If not, I truly hope you have the help you need S.Gordon Gordoncrew33@gmail.com
I”m so sorry Lori, May GOD wrap his arms around you and your family and give you all of his love.
Again, I’m sorry
I had to read this out loud couldn’t believe the callousness of the telemarketer. I hope God gave you peace in the time that passed.
IF anyone has had a bad experience,with someone on the phone.Well you should have hung up on them.Shirners work hard for the children.So parents have no Bill for there children being taken care of.So who ever is saying screw you to shriners.WELL SCREW YOU.
The Shriners can kiss my ass. Never spoken to more rude people soliciting donations. Will never give them another penny. There are many worthy causes out there, but if they can’t manage the people who seek seek donations, I’ll gladly give to others.
Dont forget..youre dealing with a telemarketer whos job it is to get money out of you-thats how they are paid.If youwant to donate then deal direct with the local Shrine club, 100% of donations goes direct to the hospital NOTHING is deducted for fees etc. Dont tar Shriners with the same brush theyre not like that
The Shrine and Shriner’s, do not call and ask for donations, ever.
Exactly! If you get cold called it’s an outside company. Please don’t judge the hospital based on telemarketer experiences.
I used to work as a telemarketer, and it’s just as horrible for us. Most people last a few months. Telemarketers aren’t cruel people or sociopaths. It’s a job. That pays based if successful phone calls not the hour.
I REPEAT
Shriners will not cold call. That is an outside company calling their behalf. Just hang up . If you wish to donate go online. And you should. They help millions. If underprivileged children
Amen it is so obvious that was some third-party crap so stop cursing out the hospital and donate to them directly . Loveshriners.org I do and have had no problems with them. That was probably someone pretending to donate to them . The real Shriners they are not pushy at all
True- the group demanding money on the phone told me NOT to give my money to a friend who is in the Shriners. They are conning people.
The Shriner’s phone solicitors are pure trash. They can go to hell. Give your money directly to the Shriners via their website. Do not stuff the pockets of people who call for money. They are thieves…plain and simple. Their predatory practices victimize people.
Absolutely !!
I agree, don’t punish the children due to one bad call…
No they are not, less than 20% of the funds raised go to children and the hospitals they supposedly operate. It’s a total sam and they currently have well over 9 billion in CASH and physical assets. Roughly 6 billion is cold hard CASH so please tell me WHY this organization is considered a NON-PROFIT????
Was this call actually legitimate or a scam? It truly sounds like a scam. Unfortunately, for about 1 month, I was working as a caller. I did not just ask for information, off the top of my head. I read from a prepared speech. She sounds like a very uneducated individual, with poor communication skills. The job is very stressful. Supervisors randomly walk around the room and actively listen in. The caller is pressured to meet a quota, which results in pushy and at times rude callers, but I do not believe a caller sounding as described, would pass the extensive training you receive, to even make a call. Companies, such as Shriners do not typically hire caller companies that are that poorly operated. I think if the caller was legitimate, she would have asked to receive a donation via a credit or bank card. I really believe you were very smart to not donate in this manner, because your money would never have reached Shriners. It would probably have ended up in her greedy pocket. Bless you. Currently I have been unemployed. It is difficult on so many levels, and people, such as this woman only reinforce the pain and frustration.
I worked for two weeks at one of these call centers for the Shriner’s Circus. They gave you a few scripts but also let you develop your own. I found it absolutely unbearable, hands down the worst job I’ve ever had. I just can’t be pushy and lack the charisma to try and try and try again and again only to be yelled at and hung up on. Heck I don’t even blame them for getting upset. I had a few people tell me the Shriner’s Circus is unethical because of how the animals are treated. Okay okay, whatever why are you lecturing me about this?
All the funds given to the Shrine, go for the Shrine Crippled Children’s’ Hospital, the Shriner Burn Hospital, and other causes they support. No burn patient or child ever is charged or pays anything for their care. I don’t know of any other charity except the Salvation Army that does as much for anyone as both these organizations do. God bless any who gives. Give locally, and I have never heard of the Shrine calling anyone asking for donations.
Amen to that.
‘Trust you’? Nope. The laws in the US are corrupt. Only %5 of movies raised has to be used by said cause – the rest goes into operations and marketing, with the bulk of it marketing. It’s a moral crime! And I resent charities and foundations for not doing more to create their own marketing process to avoid the greedy 3rd-hand bastards that make all causes look bad – and rob our money.
Yes, many of those who call are not equipped to respectfully ask for donations; but, in my experience, I blame the lack of laws to protect me form these calls in the first place and the criminal behavior that creates charities and foundations just for the purpose of robbing us.
As for Shriners – their latest advertising, using Kaleb and a host of other disabled children, has gone too far. They are without conscience. If they want money then lobby the government for a better system that covers such children….like national health care.
Jay
Could you please quote to me the exact section of Federal law you are referring to?
I think you are confusing that 5% rule with how much the Clinton Foundation was actually donating to charity.
As far as the Shriners using “Kaleb and a host of disabled children”, for their latest advertising, “going too far”, I’ll bet you plunk down more money per week to watch Hollywood actors portray a fake narrative with made up lines in a pure fantasy environment. THESE KIDS ARE NOT FAKE! And they have talent. Why not use it to their and many other’s disabled advantage?
Your last sentence explains it all, “If they want money then lobby the government for a better system that covers such children….like national health care.” Let us ask disabled Veterans how that “government system” is working out for them.
Jay
Well, I’ll respond a second time, since my first response was quashed for some reason. Must have been on the mark.
Could you please quote the Law you are referring to about only 5% needing to go toward the actual purpose of the donation. I think you are confusing that with the figure of how much Of the Clinton Foundation donations actually went toward a charitable cause.
I really love your last line, “As for Shriners – their latest advertising, using Kaleb and a host of other disabled children, has gone too far. They are without conscience. If they want money then lobby the government for a better system that covers such children….like national health care.”
How much money do you shell out weekly to watch fake actors reading made up lines about a fantasy environment or story plot. Those kids are real and their stories are real. They truly have talent. Why can’t they use that talent to help other disabled children? Also, can we ask disabled Vets how well that “government system” is working for them?
Plus they are using a child who died in February 2020 in current ads. That is a little creepy.
That was a different Kaleb. The Caleb in the commercial (bow tie) is alive.
Thank you @ALISHA. My daughter was a burn victim in 1982. Telemarking is a horrible job but there are so many needy children out there and Shriners work miracles. From burn patients, to orthopedics and in between. They work with all who have absolutely NOTHING to give and when these children come back for followup visits-FOR YEARS-, they will try anything they can to help the child. They are not fly by night surgeons and nurses and caretakers, they are THE BEST! I understand frustration with telemarking but let’s just remember the precious children. Who. by the way, are cared for until they are completely better, or 21 years of age. If you don’t trust a telemarketer. Then, call the actual institution of your choice and ask how to give monthly to the cause. @ screw you shriners!!
I was a patient of Shriners in Erie, Pa. I have scoliosis and have 9 other siblings. They treated me with the utmost professionalism and helped me tremendously to stop the curve which helped me to play sports and to get me into the military. My parents were never charged a dime. It was absolutely life changing for me and in the end will pay them back with my donations along with St. Jude’s Hospital for Children. I agree one cannot judge an entire organization over one idiot that should not be in that position. The one called upon should of had enough sense to get as much info about her and contact who he needs to in the Shriners organization to report the abuse.
Even more sad is the Shriners Hospital CEO’s salary Is over $1,500,000 per year including over $1,000,000 retirement and other benefits; and they pay fund raising companies over 80% of the funds raised from ordinary hard working poor people.
One would ask how much the CEO of the fund raising companies earn?
Before donating to anything, one should go online and research the salaries paid to the ‘Top People’ of these organizations!
The organization seems to be corrupt from my research and the hospitals inconsistent and unorganized. We were given the run around in many different ways and still don’t have help for our kid, who is exactly the same as many other kids ive read about who did get treatment at various other shriners hospitals. All of these Internet cheerleaders who have not had help from them and also have not researched the organization can chill out. The doctors and hospitals who are good and this who have been helped, wonderful. But we have had our time and money wasted our child is still suffering, he is in exact categories of who they help and we got nowhere. Unacceptable. Don’t claim this is what you do and then not do it with 5 nonsense excuses.
This is absolutely untrue. The CEO of Imperial Shrine, in charge of Shriners Hospitals for Children, does not take one penny in salary, and has absolutely no retirement pay. The position is a volunteer position. If you are going to post something, post the truth, not a lie that will then be perpetrated over and over as the truth. Shriners Hospitals for Children has, for decades, been in the top 10 of all non-profit organizations to give back the highest percentage off the donated dollar to the cause. Last year, it was 94%. It costs in excess of $1.5 million a day to operate the 22 hospitals under the Shrine umbrella. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of tens of thousands of Shriners, and the donations of friends, every child that is treated at the hospitals for a great many affliction is treated at no cost to the parents. In addition, Shriners provide transportation, housing and food while the child is at the hospital being treated. Millions of kids have been helped to lead normal lives by Shriners. Kids that other major hospitals had given up on. Shame on anyone for spreading lies about such a wonderful, generous and compassionate group of professionals who go the last mile to help children have a second chance at a normal life.
Yes, and my nephews WERE treated by them (one at Shriners’ Hospital for massive burns; the other one at the Scottish Rite.)
Are you for real?? Over a million per year? Sorry but you’re WRONG !! ALL the expenses ..doctor recruitment medicines,patient transport to AND from hospital, lodging for family members while their child/sibling is receiving treatment, medical equipment ( crutches, wheelchairs etc) are all paid through the kind donations of Mr & Mrs Public.. over a million bucks a year to CEO’s? Give your head a shake man!!
The Shrine and Shriner’s, do not call and ask for donations, ever. And you need to check your facts or information. The Shrine CEO, is a voluntary office and he doesn’t get one red cent of salary. Again every dime given to the Shrine goes to help a crippled child or a burn victim and none are ever turned away.
Its a. Shame the way the shriners exploit these kids-and the child with no arms—and his mother is the same way?!?!?!?-isnt this very irresponsible of her? We rpaying for all of themnwith our taxes-and welfare etc-this is why we nueter pets-just saying
Hy
Just because a person has a physical challenge does not mean they have nothing to contribute to society. People who are born without limbs don’t really know what it is like to have limbs so they don’t feel like they are missing out on anything. They just learn to adapt to an imperfect world. And why should a woman or man without limbs miss out on being a parent? The armless mother who has been able to grow up, find love, marry and have a family is a dream that most people have. If anything, they are better equipped to teach their children how to handle the obstacles of life regardless if their children are born with or without limbs. With your line of thinking, maybe veterans or others made disable due to a tragic incedent should just be put down immediately. There would be no waste of anyone’s money. With your line of thinking maybe you should live in Iran where anybody that is disabled is shunned and kept out of sight. In the free world life is made of all kinds of people who are challenged by all sorts of things and looking for new discoveries to help all of mankind. If you’re really worried by the waste of money in this world here’s a new topic for you, abolish social security disability to alcoholics! That is a problem. Meanwhile just be happy you have all your faculties and a life of your own to deal with and leave the rest of us alone.
Janet,
I believe that person is saying that the mother with no arms, who also was treated at shriners as a child, is irresponsible for having a child, who also has no arms. Meaning the chances of her herself also having a child with no arms was so High, why did she take that selfish chance! Now her child has no arms and has to use Shriners too. I am guessing that is what that person meant.
Anyways, as for your BS about SS/welfare and alcoholics…..well, alcoholism is a DISEASE! So don’t Throw that around like that! Be Blessed YOU haven’t had that problem.
I might agree with the Welfare part…….but NOT with people on SS. Most people on SS have severe pain and etc. Most of them already worked to receive SS Disability! I had an Uncle receive that….he had severe depression from the War he was in……he also was an alcoholic! If he didn’t get SS Disability he would have been Homeless or WORSE!!!
Welfare and SS disability are 2 very different things!
Well said. People can be ignorant to alcoholism as a disease. It’s a shame. It’s a shame that children have to suffer terrible diseases as well or even more. I believe that it’s truly sad that anyone should suffer for any reason, whatever age. But until someone walks a mile in your shoes, they have no idea! God bless each and every man, woman and child who has any disease at all.
Alcoholics and addicts don’t get social security. But as it’s an actual disease and a real, quality rehab that works costs money, maybe it should.
Wow, God Bless your black heart,boobiG. Maybe YOU should look into that sterilization program….God knows you don’t want a child to suffer YOUR disability .
Plus Kaleb died in February 2020 and it’s creepy to use him in the ads. lol
How does she know it was even the REAL shriners. It could be someone asking you to send $ to their pocket.
I don’t watch TV often but when I do 7 out of 10 commercials r of the exploitation of these horribly deformed children who believe they can have a normal life. My
I ran into this thread looking for the Shriner’s website to complain to them if they didn’t advertise so much they wouldn’t need nearly as much money. Every time a show goes to commercial there is the Shriner’s commercial AGAIN. At least 6 times an hour – okay already, I got it, as a matter of fact I got it memorized . My heart breaks for the children but I wouldn’t donate just because of the fact my money would just probably go to keep showing the same commercial every 10 minutes or whatever. Once an hour or half hour would be plenty. Running the commercial so often, in my opinion, does more harm than good.
That’s horrible. They can have a normal. I have scoliosis, 57 degrees curvature. By 27 I would have died from organ failure.
Now I am straight, though I have a fused spine and chronic pain. It’s known as an invisible disability. And yet, I’m a living a normal life. I’m not a freak nor do I feel like one.
It’s people like you who make the world horrible for the disabled. As long as people don’t judge us, we’re capable of anything.
Unlike Saint Jude’s Hospital for Children the Shriner’s Hospital exploits there badly deformed patients in commercials that are aired at least 7 – 10 times during an hour television show at all times of the day. I never donate to these advertisements because 90% of donation money goes to the hospital CEOs and board members so that they may boy expensive family vacations or breast implants for their girlfriends. What’s most disgraceful about Shriners is that they show in their commercials a mother and son who have no arms and are preparing a meal with their feet. Now I ask you truly as I know once again and watching a Shriners commercial at 4:10 a.m. who is really going to eat that meal once it has been prepared and served bye feet. He’ll not me. Shriners Hospital must stop exploiting they’re deformed patience. And by the way do you have any idea how much air time cost to air a commercial for only 15 seconds it’s in the arena of $10,000 I work for an ad agency I’m sure of this. Don’t donate money donate your time.
How incredibly short sighted you are! Did you know hands are way dirtier than feet? And don’t you know that they wash their feet like we wash are hands before preparing a meal? Over the many decades of my life I have seen people on TV and in person without arms that do everything with their feet. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing. They are going through life and being more productive than many average people do in this world. If everything in life was perfect it would be very boring. It’s one thing to bash an organization trying to get donations that may misappropriate funds but to attack full functioning individuals is very low ball. If you were suddenly put into a room of geniuses would that make you retarded? Maybe.
Antoinette, I would think that, working for an advertising agency (as you claim), you would be able to write proper English and use proper grammar. God help your clients.
LOL, Charles,you beat me to it!! This guy is such a winner
Pardon me! “Lady”*
Antoinette,
Do you feel that you should not have children so as to not pass on YOUR disability? What is it, you say?? Take a good look at your posts and you should (eventually) be able to figure it out.
M sir I am a Shriner I know what you’re talkin about what airtime cost but we get it donated to us I am one of the head Shriners in charge of Shriners hospitals for children if you have any questions call me directly I will make certain that any kid that needs help does not have to pay a dime these ads and post saying that Shriners called them are fraudulent Shriners don’t make calls for donations and Danny Thomas that started st. Jude’s was so impressed with the Shriners that he joined the Shriners I would do anything I can to help a kid and make sure there is zero cost feel free to email me directly
Tim thank you for comment. Not sure if you’ll see this. I’ve only been commenting because this post made me so angry! I had a spinal fusion for scoliosis when I was 14 at Shriners in pdx. It could have been a truly horrible experience.
When my family and I found out that a non profit hospital existed there was so much pressure relieved. I was convinced I was losing my college fund and would have to find some way to get a job.
Shriners paid for gas, the hotel. I had nurse who would work 18 hour shifts only because she knew I didn’t like the night nurse. She made me comfortable and her hair was cool. The best part, dr dmato got my spine complete straight.
To this day my family still donates $20/month to Shriners and my dads company ,hp, matches it. $40 all together. I personally donate $10.
Without Shriners I would have died or spent my life in poverty. With the added diagnosis of epilepsy, chronic pain, depression, poverty would have not helped the situation.
I explain this so people reading will realize the gravity of spreading conspiracy theories about Shriners Hospital for Children. I’m ecstatic someone actually involved with hospital offered information. Has anyone actually emailed you?
Anywho. Thank you for all the work you do.
To the readers, stop making assumptions. Shriners really is a non profit. No one there is rolling in cold hard cash or involved in crazy plots. You have to want to help people to work there, basically.
Sir does your Temple pay nobles to solicit donations or sell circus program ads? I always thought Nobles/Shriners were volunteers.
Nobles use to accumulate “circus points” for selling circus program ads. Shriners/Nobles could cash in points for special merchandise like a Shrine Circus Jacket, ball cap, watch etc.
In 2005, the elected Potentate GW Trenary and his Divan incorporated “paying ” Shriners/Nobles a percentage to solicit donations and sell ads.
The pubic believe Shriners are volunteers when they are approached by a Shriner asking for a donation or selling a circus ad. Please advise if “paid Shriners” verses , “hired telemarketers” has become a nationwide policy. I know Shriners today are no longer the wealthy elite; judges, doctors, lawyers, circus owners and other professional men they once were. However, I would like to think Shriners induct new members that can “support themselves” and not take from the kids. Paying Shriners commission on circus ads and donations could easily lead to “corruption” in the Temple.
Go to Akdar Shrine Temple Tulsa, OK Facebook page circus appreciation photos . Every year in April , Akdar Shriner posts circus appreciation dinner photos . You will see in the photo section, the circus chairman handing out paychecks to Akdar Shriners .
I also wonder who pays for The “Potentates Ball”, “The Potentates Cruise ” and The Potentate “customs designed clothing wear line ” that Potentate selects for members of the Divan crew & their wives and The Potentate and his wife to wear annually , to show “their status” each year when a new Potentate take his oath of Office. Potentates that haven’t been selected and inducted into the Jesters, chose purple themed clothing wear in hopes of becoming a Jester. “Jesters” keep Shrine Temples , members of the divan , the recorder’s office and , Potentate ” in line” in NE Oklahoma.
Thank you in advance .
Respectfully,
RoseAnne Munson
St Jude has the same commercials. I don’t know where you’re getting your information.
You won’t be able to “watch” them . . . they called on the phone. :/
I am a Shriner and have been one for many years. I also served on the Board of Governors for one of the Shriners 22 Hospitals. Shriners DO NOT solicit donations for the hospitals on the telephone. You are simply being SCAMMED!
Unfortunately, my daughter is a patient at shriners at this very moment. We have been going to the hospital for many years, and sadly, it’s our only option.
The doctors have a “God-complex,” the nurses are not informative, and the caseworkers are rude.
We live in an area that supposedly has the best burn unit in the region, and even they tell us we have to go to the Shriners hospital. The nearest Shriners is a 10-12 hour drive, depending on traffic.
I’m so frustrated with them, I’m at my wits-end. But nothing we can do. We sacrifice our comfort and our dignity to get the “best” treatment for our daughter, and we’re treated like second-class citizens.
I’ve called the international corporate offices, I’ve left messages, I would email, but I’m “not allowed” that information.
Shriners can do better. All it takes is to treat people like, well, people.
I wish they did.
People, please understand Shriners are an off shoot of Free Masonry. The devil is a great deceiver. For we Masons and Shriners will take money from anyone they can. Like all big time orgsz gov. Medical…insurance, education etc. If they don’t give you something you’d stop following them. All of these orgs. give some benefit but never 100%. Maybe 20%. You think they do good but the benefits go to them, not the your children. Yah, they’ll fix a leg but then go on a convention drinking binge with your money. Shriners are very well known to be drunkards. Call any hotel that hosts their conventions.
I hate to say this but the post is true. I’m staying in Myrtle Beach, SC right now and a Shriners convention/parade is happening here. The hotel I’m staying in is filled to the brim with Shriners and let me tell you, drunk and loud are two words that fit this group perfectly. I used to have so much respect for this organization but after seeing this fiasco they will get nothing from me ever again.
I am on vacation with a disabled person and these Shriners are the worst behaved and the most rude I’ve ever seen. They park in all the handicapped spots and of course they aren’t handicapped whatsoever. They are boisterous and extremely loud. They honestly are nothing but a bunch of drunks.
I’ve honestly never seen anything like I’ve seen on my trip to Myrtle Beach.
YOU REALLY NEED TO CHILL OUT DUDE ABOUT IT
588 million dollars of the 775 million they collect goes directly to the charities. They are one of the best organizations in this respect.
This was from 2003! Give it a rest a d move on!
I think y’all are a bunch of assholes for talking to them people that way. Y’all gotta be white. Niggas don’t do Shit like that. Broke ass white people.
No need to drag race into this problem. Unfortunately, nasty racists like you always have and will exist. “Broke ass” idiots like you will always troll!
They think just because Saint Jude is making money,and that is a great cause that I support, that the Shriners can do the same thing. They cant! Plus, their adds are disgusting and border on child abuse.
Its not only the telemarketer, its their CEOs too. I used to donate to the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital til find out that their CEO makes over $1Million a year.
Susan KO men CEO make close to $700.000 a year, Goodwill, Red Cross, Salvation Army ceos are all up in the 6 digits. Its disgusting to know that our donations to the Susan Komen foundation is less than 20%…..I will research before I ever donate again
Evil Free Mason’s doing good works?> ha ha !!! It’s a real shame these children being exploited, by EVIL SATANIC MEN. If these children really knew what these men do and represent, the would RUN AWAY FOR THERE LIVES !!!
Interesting to learn who the village idiot in Hiawatha is.
Truth hurts Kaz. Repent. Or burn with these demonic men for as long as enternity shall allow. What’s done in the dark shall be brought to the light. They all know.
You are absolutely right. I too donate to several charities and they all ask for my credit card over the phone. I always tell them know, I tell them to send me an envelope and I’ll send a check for a specified amount. Even after they send me the “form” I look them up on the BBB and also on a couple different Charity Navigators and if their CEO’s, Advertising, etc. gets the lions share, I send them a letter back explaining why I’ve changed my mind and not to contact me again. The DAV is reputable as is my favorite, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Always check.
Guy’s You are the DUMB ones. Did you run a check on these Low Life Bums and check them out. Tell them to send there literature out to you an then check them out with the BBB. Shame on you for not doing your Homework.
I am a Shriner this call was a fraud we do not make calls asking for donations I’m sorry you thought it was a Shriners call but I guarantee you it was not we don’t do that
Where did you get this information? Shriners hardly cold calls people and the donations are all the money. You really think that 80 percent of donations are going to telemarketers? Who would pay for all the surgeries? Conspiracy theories can’t work you know. Large groups can’t keep secrets
My grandfather passed away a few years ago at 88 years old after running a funeral business for over 50 years. His mind was going for the past several years. He had enough money to send all of his great grandkids (24) to college and graduate school completely free with plenty left over. Initially a will was made up for his estate to go to his kids. A Shriners advocated convinced my grandfather to sign a will over to the Shriners. We actually had to purchase his cars if we wanted them at fair value. Additionally the contents of the house so we could posses his purple heart and love letters from grandma in his navy trunk from Korean war. I will never send any money to the Shriner and tell anyone that even mentions them what they did to our family. To top that off we found out that the advocates sons college was paid for by my grandfathers estate. How nice of my Grandfather… sure that was meant for him. My father debated printing the story on a full page add in the newspaper. Eight of his grandchildren were the pallbearers, including myself. Makes me sick even thinking how our family was treated.
As a Shriner- who has sold tickets and ads for the Shrine Circus events- yes telemarketers have/are still being used. About 20% of what they raise goes to that Shrine. EACH STATE RUNS ITS OWN SHRINES. Rach Shrine runs its own circus. There is a national level of AAONMS. Shriners sell local ads, tickets. Depending upon the size of the Shrine- the units also sell the toys, work the ticket booth, sell the programs, manage getting everything in place, etc. the smaller Shrines may contract the entire process. That circus sets up everything,sells the hot dogs, toys, programs, handles security, etc and the Shrine collects a %. Those $$ go for the Shrine operating expenses, portions to the various units ( clowns, Karvettes, band, etc) for upkeep on the units assets( karts. Horns, drums, storage facilities). CHARITABLE fund raisers- are the street corner donations- for the hospitals 100% goes to the hospitals( maybe a liilte spent on pizza for the guys and wives standing on the corners all day). We have zip control over the telemarketers. If you want to donate to the Shriners in say- tickets for kids to attend the circus( I used to give all my tickets to single moms I knew) contact a Shriner and ALL your $ will go to those tickets- at a group price( like 100 tickets bought at a discounted price- I sell them at a reduced price and my unit gets the difference and the buyer gets a % off. I have placed 20-50 tickets at stores for the owner/mgr to sell, or use as incentives. Summary- do bidness with a Shriner to get the full bang for your$. Fill up the bucket in May when we are on the street corners. And go to the circus! Better yet- find out what it takes to be a Shriner- and YOU raise $ for the hospitals and kids!
They are scammers, they don’t work for the Shriners. I have been donating to them for years. I have never had a call from anyone saying they are from the Shriners and were trying to get money from me. I drove a bus ,for Shriners to their National convention a few years ago. One young man I met, told me he grew up as a Shriners Kid. A recipient of the Shriners Hospital in Tampa. He told me if it hadn’t been for the Hospitals and the Shriners, he wouldn’t be here today. He was a Shriner himself. Every conversation I had with a Shriner, always led back to the Kids. Unless there is a ID on the phone, that we know , we don’t answer our phones. Just don’t answer your phone and you will avoid the scamms.
You know it does not sound like this call was really from the Shriners. As far as I know they do not hire telemarketers. I could be wrong on this. But I recently spent two months at the Shriners Burn Institute in Galveston with my nine month old son. These people were absolutely wonderful. They saved my son and thats no exageration. They also would not accept any form of payment (including insurance) for caring for my son. They will care for him including cosmetic surgery, supplies, pressure garments etc till he is 21 years old. Burn care is extremly expensive-approx. $20,000 every ten days. If it was not for the Shriners Hospital I dont think I would have my son today.
If the call was really from someone calling for the Shriners, shame on her for being so insensitive to your situation and being so pushy. Please though do consider the Shriners for donations. They do not receive any FEDERAL funds at all. They do not charge patients regardless of income or if they have insurance. They rely strictly on donations from the community. Many of the older Shriners leave their entire estates to the Shriners when they die. They are that dedicated to the children. They also care for children with Cleft palate and spinal cord injuries as well as those who are born without a limb or lose a limb.
I understand the bad taste in your mouth but it really does not represent the Shriners accurately. (the woman that is did not represent them properly)
I thought I would just share this with you because I owe the Shriners everything for bringing my baby back to me and for giving him the state of the art care not available anywheres else.
I also wish you well finding employment again, I know thats tough.
Well, thanks for listening, please consider the Shriners again.(perhaps complain to one of the main offices so they can eliminate such a person/s from representing them, if she was really representing them)
This is correct. Someone recently called my daughter’s store and asked for a donation. She was going to give one because my brother in law is a member of the Shriners. They were supposed to pick the check up from the store. Then someone called the store (and they were very rude) saying someone tried picking up the check but the business was closed. I told him the hours which it was open and he said someone would get it Friday. Then I spoke to my sister and brother in law and told them how rude the guy was who was asking people for their hard earned money. They said no one from the Shriners will ever call people and ask for donations. They even said that someone called their home asking for a donation.
And the minimum donation level started at $150 for businesses!
Thank you for sharing your story. Shriners is helping my daughter get the braces she needs to straighten her legs and we have never received a single bill and they have helped cover gas for 360 mile commute every week. We have been treated with such kindness that it actually pains my heart for anyone to speak ill of them. I’m glad you have the same story and I’m glad they helped her son the way they are helping my daughter.
My thoughts exactly, the phone call sounds very suspect to me. There are an amazing amount of fraudsters out there posing as charities. One common red flag is that when you start to so no they get very angry and try to bully you into giving.
Before you go on a huge rant about an amazing organization why not try to verify that it’s a legitimate call to begin with?
And yes, I have a family member who has been greatly helped by Shriners and they will always have my support.
Thank you for this information. I want to donate to charities that are true charities, which give the care with or without the family being able to pay. I will add Shriners to my monthly donation list. The only other I do monthly is St. Jude’s. Others are hit and miss but these 2 are certainly deserving.
http://www.wcpo.com/wcpo/localshows/dontwasteyourmoney/655485.html
Sorry my post posted three times for some reason?? Anyway, go to the above link regarding a shriners scam
Don’t worry about the multi-post or the bad feelings towards the Shriners – neither will last for long. If anything, a post like this lets me get out my frustration and lets other people know that such things exist. The fact that you can lend a credible site pointing out that such scams exist and are known about is VERY appreciated – every bit of knowledge in these things help… cheers!
who ever that was i dont know ,,but i do know she was not affiliated with AAONMS or shriners hospital for children they are funded by shriners they dont even have an accounts reciving department.so screw you
So screw me? Why screw me? Because I’m helping to “out” a scam online?
By the way, if you’re going to take the time to try and insult me, learn how to use proper punctuation Mr. ,,-no-space-.-. Man.
I hope your employed by now .
Yes, thanks. The rant was not about being unemployed or donating to other places – the rant was about the organization that was nagging me for donations for the Shriners and instead of being polite when someone tells them “no”. Being out of work was why I wasn’t feeling generous at the time; the caller could have sympathized or empathized but chose to keep on the press for money.
I can see where you’re coming from. Wanting to help but having nothing left after taking care of all your necessities because of employers desperate attempt to cut back on staff and wages yet you’re hounded by people to give. Another problem is there are many telephone scammers portraying to represent a company to get money. So the best solution is looking that organization up online to see if it’s legit. If it is, donate using their website, address or phone number
The woman on the phone was rude. She kept on and on. He was a little Braggy but he was in a bad way himself at the moment. The people who have these phone jobs need some training, they would have better results
ANYBODY WHO KNOCKS ANY GOOD AGENCY LIKE THE SHRINERS WHO HAVE GIVEN FREE MEDICAL CARE TO OVER 625,000 CHILDREN, IS ANTI-AMERICAN!!
NEVER FAILS, YOU GET SOME CLOWN WHO WILL PUBLISH ANYONES COMPLAINT INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT THE GOOD THESE SHRINERS DO. NOW YOU KNOW WHY PEOPLE TURN THEIR HEAD AND DONT WANT TO HELP. VOLUNTEERS HAVE DROPED 40% IN 2003. PEOPLE SHOOT OFF THEIRE MOUTH. ITS EASY TO CRITIZES BUT DIFFICULT TO GET OUT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT A PROBLEM. THIS CRY BABY WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT BEING OUT OF WORK, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH HE GAVE TO CHARITY WHEN HE WAS WORKING. THE CALL HE GOT WASNT FRO ANY SHRINE ORGANIZATION. HES JUST TO STUPID TO FIGURE THAT OUT.
Some of you aren’t getting the point. No one is knocking Shriners Hospital and what they do.
The point is, there are some very profitable marketing companies that contract with worthy organizations to advertise in their name. These marketing companies promise a percentage of the money donated to the worthy organizations. Places like Shriners Hospital agree to this because they can receive millions of dollars for doing nothing. Meanwhile, folks who donate money think they are doing a good thing, while the marketing company filters out all but a few pennies of every dollar donated. The solution is to donate directly to Shriners hospital or to a local Shriners organization. That way 100% of your money is available to provide services to the children.
And you’re too stupid to to not use all caps and proper spelling and punctuation.
Look here, retard, he is not anti-American! Anyone unemployed or possibly homeless is anti-American? Go try to talk that horseshit to someone HOMELESS/POOR here in the Bay Area, especially San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland. You will get beaten up faster than you open your nasty filthy mouth. He wasn’t bashing the organization, you hopeless idiot! He was criticizing the ass-headed caller who had no respect for his current situation. He didn’t feel like donating, that’s all! Maybe you wouldn’t understand unemployment, cause you’ve never been unemployed! Go waddle back to your 1%, rich neighborhood. Filthy anti-American Joe Blanchard- the ANTI AMERICAN scumbag who wouldn’t know empathy if it kicked him in the face!
Hey, Joe: Bite me. I get to publish whatever complaints I want because I own the publishing media. I also get to point out that they called MY house using their name. I will critize whomever I want, because it was MY phone that got called and MY time that got wasted hence it’s MY comments that are posted here. As for what I’ve donated when I was working, that’s my business, but if you want to go call the red cross, the Sept/11 Fund, and my past places of education – they will gladly give you the low down.
By the way, bite me.
To begin with your vocabulary just may be the reason you found yourself unemployed. I hope since,you’ve reread all your post and learned how ugly in your mind the words read. May you now have gainful employment and are contributing to society a humbled man.
My vocabulary suits my blog just fine, thanks, especially since it fully captures the heat of the moment, which was the whole point.
I pray you find wonderful self employment and freedom doing what you love and are most gifted at, writing, ranting, social media, whatever, and can contribute generously to whatever organizations you do support who you have had positive experiences with. : ) ♡ I feel for your negative experience and I am sorry you had to go through that and we’re treated that way under such circumstances. In this experience you were mistreated and I’m sorry for that. Thanks for communicating your experience to others, this is always valuable. Have a wonderful weekend.
You know, my best friend’s daughter is in Shriner’s Hospital for Children in St. Louis right now and after reading your article, I asked a Shriner about it and found out that they DO NOT have telemarketers that call for donations. So while I understand your complaint that someone called you and was a total jerk, it WAS NOT SHRINERS. I would have hoped that you would have investigated the issue a little more before you posted your rant because all that you are doing is exactly what that lady did for you…ruining the reputation of a great charity. My friend’s daughter was born without a hip and there is no way he would have been able to afford the operation or care that she is recieving today if it wasn’t for the Shriners. You know, you may own the publishing media, as you pointed out above, but that doesn’t give you the right to post libel messages. Shriners doesn’t deserve the bad image from that horrible lady who called you or from the horrible press you are giving them with your editorial. (By the way, editorials have to be based on fact….which you should know since you OWN the publishing media.) You claimed that you are trying to point out a scam…believe me, that sounded more like a direct attack on Shriners, not a helpful, informative publishing about scams that are using reputable names to make a quick buck. I understand your anger, but shame on you for trying to make Shriners look bad. Thank God for the Shriners…my friend’s daughter walked today.
@cara – I’m glad to hear that your friend’s daughter walked! It’s good to see organizations work towards the good of others, instead of lining their pockets. I recall a number of the 9-11 funds that surfaced after the attack were in a world of trouble, only donated a percentage of the money collected – nice to see that the Shriners are not like that.
Beyond that, the entire story that was in the original post was fact, the conversation is listed exactly as it happened. If it wasn’t the Shriners, as many have pointed out, then someone is using their name and if they read this, maybe they can do something about it. As for my Rant, what else would I investigate? Someone called my home, intruded on my evening, asked me for money for an organization, and hung up on me. That’s where my interaction with the situation ends. Seeing as I have a blog full of Rants this became another one in the bucket. I’m not a public advocate or a “scam stopped” – I was sharing an obnoxious phone call with the world.
And if it was really an attack against the Shriners, I would be removing comments from this post, instead of responding to them and letting contrary opinions stay – I try to give ppl that take the time to leave comments the same “freedom of speech” that I enjoy by running the site.
Regards to your friend’s daughter; I hope her progress continues to go well!
I agree with you, the sad fact is there is good / bad with everything. My grandson was hit by a truck on his bike. He was stat flighted to Shriners/ Nortons childrens hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. He had alot wrong with him but after a long stay he got to come home. He had a bar in his leg until he healed, he had to walk with a childs walker, to make a long story short, he needed a wheelchair so I called the hospital to ask to loan him one, the lady said they dont do those things, l ask l thought Shriners childrens hospital helped kids , the lady said we do but we dont loan wheelchairs. But the lady said when we get done with the walker we could donate it back so it could help a child. How did that make any sense. Good luck on getting a job.
Wow, you’re a real piece of work, aren’t you?
All that stuff is done for FREE but since the family is expected to do/provide anything at all, then, well………….
Randy
I am a Mason, as well as, a Shriner. I sincerely
apologize for the rude lady that called you.
I do not know what state she was from , or the temple that hired that agency to solicit for them.
I belong to the YAARAB Temple in Atlanta and we do our own telemarketing campaign for a similar situation that happened to us. We could not control the people they hired to make the calls, or their attitudes. Luckily for us the rude person called a fellow shriner demanding a donation. We thereafter found out these people were getting paid by a percentage of donation they collected. We decided we did not want to be represented in this manner. As for all the “Screw U’s” from others the should be ashamed. The only thing you are guilty of is not reporting this woman to a local shrine club. So theycould take action. Thank you sir and have a nice day.
T. Scalf
Thank you for pointing this out. Others are being even ruder than the lady on the phone by telling him he is misrepresenting shriners and that nobody ever calls for donations to shriners, now many have read those comments and when someone calls to get donations for shriners they will remember “it’s a scam” and hangup and not donate. I wish people would open their minds and shut their mouths until they can read and listen and formulate helpful communication such as this. Much confusion is caused by hostile Internet protesters. … thanks for sharing your experience
I completely agree with your post. As I have been a Mason, Shriner as well and have seen first hand the work the hospitals do.
Sad day when people have to post such negative things without better research of who it is they are attacking.
Having read most of these posts, seeing some are well written and some not so much…the pro and con, the back and forth. The world we live in is the world we make it, and let’s make it a better world to live…for all of our children.
This is as I see is the mission of the Freemasons and that of the Shriner, group.
Mr. Scalf-
How much does TAARAB Temple pay nobles to solicit donations or sell circus program ads? I always thought Nobles/Shriners were volunteers.
Nobles use to accumulate “circus points” for selling circus program ads. Shriners/Nobles could cash in points for special merchandise like a Shrine Circus Jacket, ball cap, watch etc.
In 2005, the elected Potentate GW Trenary and his Divan incorporated “paying ” Shriners/Nobles a percentage to solicit donations and sell ads.
The pubic believe Shriners are volunteers when they are approached by a Shriner asking for a donation or selling a circus ad. Please advise if “paid Shriners” verses , “hired telemarketers” has become a nationwide policy. I know Shriners today are no longer the wealthy elite; judges, doctors, lawyers, circus owners and other professional men they once were. However, I would like to think Shriners induct new members that can “support themselves” and not take from the kids. Paying Shriners commission on circus ads and donations could easily lead to “corruption” in the Temple.
Go to Akdar Shrine Temple Tulsa, OK Facebook page circus appreciation photos . Every year in April , Akdar Shriner posts circus appreciation dinner photos . You will see in the photo section, the circus chairman handing out paychecks to Akdar Shriners .
I also wonder who pays for The “Potentates Ball”, “The Potentates Cruise ” and The Potentate “customs designed clothing wear line ” that Potentate selects for members of the Divan crew & their wives and The Potentate and his wife to wear annually , to show “their status” each year when a new Potentate take his oath of Office. Potentates that haven’t been selected and inducted into the Jesters, chose purple themed clothing wear in hopes of becoming a Jester. “Jesters” keep Shrine Temples , members of the divan , the recorder’s office and , Potentate ” in line” in NE Oklahoma.
Thank you in advance .
Respectfully,
RoseAnne Munson
Randy
I should not be acusing you. It is not your place to police telemarketers for the Shrine. Also the town you live in may not even have a shrine club. The club may be from a different state and difficult to find who to report this to. They will most likely use this agency next year if they had a good return. So if they call you back you have the upper hand and can find out if they are hired, if they have been use before etc.
Keep up the board sometimes we all need to VENT
T. Scalf
I have been a Shriner for several years and to my knowlege this is not a practice that we use. We want to promote the most honest and open attitude possible, after all Shriners are Practicing Freemasons and and have sworen an obligation to honesty and charity.
Hi there Shriners. I just received a call from someone representing the Shriners. She was looking for a donation. She told me that the Shriners were holding an event in Seattle but I didn’t catch what event. If anyone can tell me if they know that the shriners are having an event in seattle or can direct me to where I can locate this info it would be greatly appreciated. I want to make sure that this is not a scam.
Thanks!
I am the President of my local Shrine Club and I have NEVER heard of any Clubs, Temples, or Units using these methods to raise funds. while I cannot and do not speak for all Shrine organizations in North America I can state that you should ask any telephone solicitor to mail you information on the item they are requesting donations for. If the donations is for truly for the Shriners it wil CLEARLY state if the funds are for Fraternal use or for Childrens Hospital Use. if you have further questions do not hesitate to call your local Shrine Organization which is normally found under fraternal organizations
I to would like to apologize as well for the lady in question. What you are expressing is an issue that Shrine and other Good organizations have been experiencing for quite some time and most likely will continue. Something of this nature truly hurts everybody in question. So many of these people find good organizations like the Shrine, and feel that if they give you the idea that they are associated with organizations that do good work that you will donate. I have been a Shriner for 19 years now, and am very proud of what our organization does. We HELP kids. As pointed out we charge nothing for our services. All of our donations are 100% voluntary, we get no government money. We stand on street corners, stores, parking lots and where ever else we can to collect money. The Shrine operate 22 hospitals dedicated to orthopedic, burns, and spinal cord treatment. I know some telemarketing is used, but unfortunately, we cant police them. Follow the link
http://www.shrinershq.org/whatsnewarch/archives03/smartmoney4-03.html
It gives you some idea of where the money goes. I know you have been offended, and yes you do have a right to air your feelings, but sometimes good organizations get a bad rap. If this does happen again, please get as much information as possible, primarily what Shrine Temple they are collecting for and report it to your local Shrine Temple or even the Imperial Shrine in Tampa FL. If we dont know about these things we cant correct them.
I am a master mason like many of those that have replied. Our local news a few years ago did a story on scams and the telling signs of being a scam or not. The one that I remember is exactly what you described. When being denied or turned down, these people get very pushy. I actually experienced it myself, and the response from the caller was very much like yours.
A relative of mine works for Shriner’s Childrens Hospital. He went to a training seminar in Florida. During the time he was there, he witnessed several episodes of inappropriate use of funds. In one case, a handful of higher level Shriner people’s dining for the week came to a five-figured tab. My relative left the conference with the feeling that some top-level Shriner’s are bilking the generous public of their hard-earned contributions.
I AM PROUD TO BE A SHRINER- I WORK WITH FUNDRAISING IN A VERY POSITIVE WAY. I RESENT ANY TELEMARKETING CALLS FROM ANY SOURCE. I HAVE NOT EVER KNOWN OF A TRUE SHRINERS CLUB, UNIT, TEMPLE, OR GROUP USING TELEPHONE SOLICITING. I DONATE MY TIME TO TRANSPORT CHILDREN TO HOSPITALS IN CINC., CHICAGO, LEXINGTON, AND ST LOUIS. I DONATE ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SECOND FRIDAY NIGHT OF OCTOBER AT MY SKATE CENTER TO OUR LOCAL SHRINE CLUB TO PUT ON A CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR THE 125 CHILDREN FROM THE GREATER BOWLING GREEN KY AREA WE ARE TRANSPORTING FOR CARE. I SEE CHILDREN SKATING IN MY RINK WHO WOULD NOT BE WALKING IF NOT FOR THE CARE THEY HAVE RECIEVED AT SHRINERS. I HAVE ENJOYED THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE TRUE “NOBLES” OF THIS GREAT GROUP FOR MANY YEARS. I ONLY WISH THAT YOU HAD CONFIRMED WHO YOU WERE DEALING WITH WHILE ON THE PHONE- THIS TYPE OF SCAM IS DESTRUCTIVE TO ANY GREAT CAUSE, AND THE ONLY THING TO COME OUT OF IT IS HURT, LOSS, AND ANGER. IF YU ARE EVER CONTACTED BY ANYONE LIKE THIS AGAIN-PLEASE SET UP A PICK UP TIME FOR THE FUNDS, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE, AND ASK THEM TO BE THERE TO PICK UP THE PICK UP PERSON. – PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR FACTS, AND BE SURE OF WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH. LIFE IS GREAT- LIVE IT, LOVE IT, AND HELP A DISADVANTAGED CHILD TO DO THE SAME.
You know, I believe the caller to this man (original post rant) had to be a scam..not SHRINERS!! I’ve NEVER heard any child ..referred to in the manner he said she spoke… I agree with you and hope he took your advice… report any calls of that terrible nature… I thank all of charitable organizations and have been helped by a few over the years… BLESS SHRINERS, ST. JUDE.. NATIONWIDE CHILDRENS AND MANY OTHERS
The truth of the matter is that Shriners hospitals opened their doors to the 9-11 victims as well as the night club fire victims. See Below. Also, Shriners Hospitals again ranked as the number one health charity by SmartMoney magazine. See this article below as well.
Shriners Hospital opens doors to Rhode Island fire victims; second time in 80-year history
I just now received a call from a guy claiming to be from the Shriners who asked me for a donation for “kids programs” in a bout a 60 second spiel. I politely told him that I appreciated his (organization’s) work but that my wife and I determine our giving based on a yearly review which includes kids concerns. I told him ‘thanks but no’. He proceeded to argue and cajole telling me he could send something in the mail to “legitimize” his organization– but only if I pledged to give–so they wouldn’t waste postage or printing. I responded by asking him what part of my decline called the legitimacy of his organization into question. I then reinforced his purported good work with kids and went on to tell him that i would consider… AND HE HUNG UP ON ME!!!!
I *69’d him with no luck.
I then called the local Nile Shriners who knew nothing of the program– but told me there were other shrine groups. I made three other phone calls with no gain. Then I googled Shriners and found these posts.
I get the feeling this guy respondced defensively due to his underlying illigitimacy.
I will make a few more calls, let you know what turs up.
BUT I GET THE DISTINCT IMPRESSION SOMEONE IS SCAMMING UNDER THE LOOSE “SHRINER” NAME. Beware!
I am in Victoria BC Canada,
Got a call from an uneducated sounding woman re:donationt to the ”Shriners” I said ”the Shriners hospital?” She says ” yes the Shriners”………..same deal as others have said…..she confirms address then wants to send out a donation card but cant send it out unfilled with some sum… I say I cant commit I dont trust this…..she is pushing for something I feel, shes pushing me intop saying…ok I may decide to donate 50$…I tell her I dont trust it….she says why not, I dont have your credit card# how would I take money from you?….I said im not sure but im not verbaly agreeing to anythi9ng, send me out some info and I may concider a donaton…she pushes again…why sir why? no scam, Finally I say I have had a few beers and I appologize if my mistrust seams unfounded as I am now confused, I willl look you up online I say…..She does not direct me to a website……….she mokingly says see ya!
there is a shriners scam going on.
I just wanted to say something that’s already been said… to shame ANYONE who would attempt to Scam Shriners… I had my first surgery at Shriners Hospital in St Louis at 2 months old, exactly 2 days after my mother was told I would never walk. My last surgery was at age 13 and though they said I would eventually lose the ability to walk, and have begun that battle, Shriner’s Hospital is the ONLY reason that I’ve walked for 20something years (28yo now)… pardon my harshness but blessings be to Shriner’s Hospital and ta hell with anyone against them.
I realize the posts here are a few years old but I’d like to make it clear that the Shriners do in fact contract telemarketing companies to raise donations. I was recently interviewed for a position with one of them. I felt completely uncomfortable during my interview so I decided to do some digging. I called my local temple, Al Amin and they comfirmed that they had in fact hired “Cunningham & Moore” based out of Dallas,TX to solicit donations for the circus. I’m now being asked to open a P.O. Box in the Shriner’s name. I don’t know where to go from here. If they’re legitimate I need the paycheck, but if this is illegal obviously I want nothing to do with it. Is there anybody else out there that’s gone through this before?
I was called by someone representing the Shriners, asking for a pledge, who asked for a CC#. The call seemed a little “off” but not rude. I declined to give the cc# and asked for a form to be mailed. It clearly states that this group are using the telemarketer Xentel, which is a publicly traded company that was recently fined $500,000 for misuse of the DoNotCall list, and has been cited for keeping between 60 and 90% of the funds. Shriners have both Charitable and Fraternal drives here. Fraternal are for the benefit of the Shriners activities with about 30% of their share actually going to charity. Its also not a charitable deduction for tax purposes. In other words of your $100, abt. $75 goes to the telemarketer and 30% of the remaining $25 goes to charity. I’m not knocking the Shriners, they do great work, just trying to point ot a few facts. I believe Charitable drives may have a better record.
You’re an idiot!! The person you talked to was a TELEMARKETING agent! It wasn’t Shriners, it wasn’t the children that benefit from your donation! It was a customer service agent! Maybe she had a bad day. Maybe she couldn’t get anyone to donate and she was frustrated. You don’t know! One pushy person shouldn’t keep you from helping kids. Anyway. OVER REACTION NATION!! Whatever!!
@ me,
Kinda like YOU are Over Reacting!!!
Your whole post was Ridiculous.
P.s. YOU are the IDIOT!!!
Excellent commentary on a 12 year old post. Well done.
I think we can all see who is having a bad day, who is frustrated, and who is over reacting. : )
I know this is probably old news, but I found it on whocallsme.com complaining about telemarketers and it looks legit this was written by:
An Old Employee that used to work there
23 Oct 2013 | 4 replies
The Company that is making these calls for the Shriners used to be called Cunningham and Moore, but it now goes by the name Agente Communications; even though many of the older callers still use the name Cunningham and Moore on the phone. Their main phone number is 972-702-8600. If you call that number, someone in the processing department will answer the phone and you can ask to speak to whoever you need to, and they will transfer you. They do call nationwide, raising money for many of the local Shriners. Some people may call this a Shriner scam, Shriners scam, or Shriners telemarketing scam. I’m just going to list some of the facts as they stand to the best of my knowledge in 2013 and let you be the judge as to how you feel about your donations to this company calling for the Shriners.
The actual truth is that they have “cold callers” and “tap callers”. A cold caller is a person who starts out with the company or who has been there a while and hasn’t proven their sales ability yet. A cold caller basically calls cold off from a lead list that is organized by zip code. Cold callers call people who have never donated before (however, some of the numbers may include those who have but just by chance) in the hopes that they can get a donation. Once a cold caller gets a person to commit to giving a donation that donor then becomes a tap. A tap is basically a lead of a person who has donated before, a prior donor for the company. These taps, leads, are stored in a different database from then on out, and on your receipt you will see your tap number in the upper left or upper right hand part of the receipt. All the older receipts used to end with either just a number, or the letters top or bull depending on how valuable a donor you were. now they took the letters of and they end with no letters or just the letter t or b so donors would stop asking what that meant. Now a tap caller is a caller who has proven their sales ability and only calls taps, which are prior donors. Again there are different levels of taps depending on how valuable a donor you are: there are “room taps”, “top taps”, “bull taps”, and even taps in what is called “the premier database”.
As far as pay for callers is concerned, all callers are guaranteed to get $10 and hour as a base or commission, whichever is higher at the end of the week. The caller gets 35% of every “cold sale” made. So that means that if you have never donated to this company before then you are a cold sale and the caller gets 35% of your donation. As far as taps are concerned, the caller gets 20% of every “tap sale” made. Again, that means that if you have donated to this company then you are a tap sale and the caller gets 20% of your donation. Unfortunately it gets much worse sounding than that though, because most callers are not good enough on the phones to commission at the end of the week, so they just make the $10 per hour. What that means to you is that if a person only raised $800 in donations for the whole week, and that person worked 40 hours, then that caller made a paycheck of $400; and, therefore, that caller alone got 50% of your donation. Keep in mind that that is just the pay to the individual caller and there is a whole office of staff, office rent, etc, etc,.
So you may be wondering how much the top callers at Agente communications make? Well, there are about 5 bulls at this time at Agente Communications. A “bull” is what they call their very top callers. A few of these bulls consistently pull paychecks of $4,000 to $7,000 each and every week. Yes, you read that correctly, and I did not typo and add an extra zero by accident. I have repeatedly and first hand seen their paychecks and seen their weekly tmr report, which is a report off the donations they brought in. So for you big donors out there, listen up: if you donate $1,000 to a shrine circus or hospitals, then that caller you are on the phone with is guaranteed top get 20% of your thousand; again, factually if you donate $1,000 to a shrine circus or hospital or even a shrine golf tournament, $200 of your $1,000 check is going right into the pocket of the caller that is on the phone with you. Believe me I know I have been that caller many times.
So there are some of the facts as far as pay is concerned with the company called Agente Communication, formerly called Cunningham and Moore. I am thinking about starting a website describing the full range of my knowledge of this company in the hopes of giving donors a more informed decision of where their money is going. I will do so if some of you who reply on here would think you would be interested in seeing a website fully detailing this company and how it is run to the best of my knowledge. just reply to this message with your opinion.
By as I said this company calls over many parts of the country for local Shrines, raising money for their circus’ and also hospitals, as well as the shrine charity golf tournaments. Here is a short list of many of the local Shrines that we called for while i worked there, along with the local Shrine name, its location, and the caller ID number that may have been in use at that time (keep in mind they change these numbers frequently to keep donors on their feet:
Hella Shrine Ciircus (Dallas) and Shriners Hopsitals 972-702-2955 (however they have a few more numbers and i don’t have them written down.
Al Amin Shrine Circus (Kingsville, Victoria, Hidalgo, Beeville, Alice, and Corpus Christie, Texas) 361-225-2584
Abou Ben Adhem Shrine Circus (Springfield, MO) not sure of the caller id number
Alcazar Shrine Circus (Montgomery, AL) 334-264-1104
Al Chymia Shrine Circus (Memphis, TN) 901-387-0448
Alhambra Shrine Circus (Chattanooga, TN) 423-892-9266
Al Menah Shrine Circus (Nashville, TN) 615-262-2502
Alzafar Shrine Circus (San Antonio, Seguine, Laredo, Texas) 210-892-0006
Beja Shrine Circus (Green Bay, Neenah, Shawano, Waupaca, and other cities, WI) 920-497-0079 and 920-494-3401
Ben Hur Shrine Circus (Austin, TX) 512-646-0025
Elf Khurafeh Shrine Circus (Lansing, Flint, and Saginaw, MI) 810-686-7411
El Kahir Shrine Circus ( Cedar rapid, Iowa City, Mason City, IA) 319-804-1750
El Karubah Shrine Circus (Shreeveport, LA) not sure of the number off hand
El Maida Shrine Circus (El Paso and Odessa, TX) 915-351-3794 and 915-351-3566
Jerusalem Shrine Circus (Thibodeaux and New Oleans, LA) 985-725-9333
Kaaba Shrine Circus (Davenport, IA) 563-359-6354
Maskat Shrine Circus (Wichita Falls, TX) 940-766-3700
Karem Shrine Circus (Waco, TX) 254-420-0091
Orak Shrine Circus (Richton Park, IL) 219-886-9650
Rizpah Shrine Circus (Bowling Green, Owensboro, Hopkinsville, KY) 270-843-0340
Suez Shrine Circus (Midland, San Angelo, and many other cities, TX) 325-949-0009
Tripoli Shrine Circus (Milwaukee, Antigo, Fond Du Lac, Sheboygan, Union Grove, West Bend, WI) 414-443-0441, 920-497-0079
Zelzah Shrine Circus (Las Vegas, NV) 702-366-9150
Zuhrah Shrine Circus (Minneapolis, MN) 612-379-1011
OK that is a list of most of the Shrine Circus’ that this company has called for while i worked there. Oh and by the way they also call for the AMVETS over many parts of the country, and the Dallas Sherifs posse (which they are currently using as a sponsor for Christmas supplies since they lost the Jaycees contract for it). So if you donate to the Shrine Circus or hospitals through this company then you will become a tap, and you will be called for the AMVETS or any other charity that this company holds a contrat for in your area. And, yes, the pay structure is the same for these other charities also.
So there you have it. That is the facts as I know them to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing. I still want to make a free website that exposes all the rest of this company as well as the lifestyle of the top callers there and how your precious donations are spent (Such as the one who feels that it is necessary to wear several thousands of dollards worth of clothes every day and has multiple expensive vehicles that are all customized). I hope this message on this board proves valuable to those who are thinking about making donations to the Shriners through this telemarking company.
Caller: Agente Communications formerly Cunningham and Moore, calls for Shriners etc
Call Type: Telemarketer
Katherine,
Great information. Thank you for taking the time to share this lengthy and very accurate post. I hope readers value what you shared and STOP giving to telemarketers.Your post is one hundred percent correct .
Please contact me. I am starting a company to advise donors about smarter giving choices and would love to collaborate ideas. I was a non-profit and political fundraiser for 35 years. The last 8 years I have worked as an advocate for abused and neglected children and am an advocate for the voiceless. Donors , PLEASE call the pubic school in your community. Ask which program at the schools are safety net programs for kids and give directly. Examples, Backpack food program, after school programs, Boys and Girls Club , Foster Care Programs, Infant Crisis Nurseries to name a few. Ask for the school counselor or school based social worker at the school. School councilors can direct you where immediate funding can do the most good for children in your community that are suffering, specially through the holidays. Donors, please stop giving to telemarketing companies on behalf of charities or circuses. The telemarketing company and circus producer go hand in hand. One gets 75 percent the other gets 25 percent The shrines get a percentage of sales at the gate. Each Shrine organization has a circus contract with a circus producer. The circus producer hires a telemarking company. In many contracts, the circus producer guarantees the Shrine club a flat fee. The circus and telemarketing company make 100 percent of the money they raise, less the guaranteed fee to the Shrine organizations.
I know of one Shrine Temple that “pays” its Shriners to solicit money and sell ads. That is misconduct , they present themselves as volunteers when they approach a local business soliciting a donations . Please , don’t contribute Shrine Circus circus . If you want to take your own kids to a circus , fine, but please don’t donate to send “underpriledges kids” to the circus.
The parents cant afford to take the children even if the child has a free ticket. The parents ticket is not free. It is a sales tactic. Call the Shrine Hospitals directly and ask for the developemt department. Send your gift directly to one of the Shrine Hospitals, if that is your favorite cause . Please don’t give to your local shrine club or Shrine Temple. It is considered a fraternal gift and is not tax deductible. Fraternal organizations do as their board votes to do with the money they raise. Fraternal donations pay mortgages on large buildings , upkeep Potentates Balls parties, travel etc. If you want to support a local shrine group, buy some vidella onions when Shriners sell them around town. They make 50% profit and you are get a good product for your money .
Sincerely,
RoseAnne Munson
cain2525@rocketmail.com ( email address, I check most frequent)
You can reach me by by text: (918) 533-4232
Grow up, Randy. Taking utboutcto the Shriners because this person was an idiot. She probably got paid that evening for pledges and should have been trained and supervised.
But grow up. Saying you’ll never donate to the Shriners and worse: posting this to try to vent your anger by getting other people to agree with you is just immature and despicable. Sometimes you just gotta be an adult and eat it.
Wow, thanks Peppel! So very helpful of you to reply to a 13 year old post with nothing but sarcasm, insults, and ignoring the fact that the Shriners – that you are so actively protecting – either sanctioned the original call or were made aware of an issue over a decade ago. Bugger off.
I’ve never had contact with the Shriners. I’ve been giving to St. Jude Children’s Hospitals, AFMDA, and up until yesterday, 01/26/2016, Wounded Warrior Project. I immediately contacted American Express and had them put a BLOCK on any monthly billing by Wounded Warrior Project. Your post saddens me. I have also contributed to the American Heart Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America, ASPCA, HSUS, and Hillel, the Holocaust Museum, etc. but not on a monthly basis as I did the 1st 3 charities. Not wanting to experience a repeat of my experience with Wounded Warrior Project, I Googled “LoveShriners.org” to see reviews. The telemarketer’s manner is terrible. I sold for two (2) years in Florida for a Bell System company, and I achieved 2nd Place overall in Florida and 1st Place in Key West. The techniques the woman was using were “rolling over a customer’s objections” and “grubbing”. But her continued insistence, her inquiries, and her lack of manners were probably all her own, or the brainchild of whoever was running that ‘boiler room’. I will keep Googling “LoveShriners.org” as I want to give to a REAL charitable organization and want to make sure I check them out thoroughly. I hope this lack of manners, obnoxiousness, and pushiness is only characteristic of the contracted telemarketing company or the individual herself, and not Shriners. I DO thank you for the feedback though, and it prepares me for any such name appearing on my caller id screen. Did you call the number back to ascertain whether it REALLY was someone calling for the Shriners Hospitals and not just CROOKS spoofing your caller id and trying to con you? Here in New Mexico we see a LOT of that, and it’s not just scammers. We apparently also have an overabundance of TROLLS who use spoofing software to annoy and harass other people- some of them with Masters’ Degrees in Psychology, if you can believe it. I know of a few. smh. Thanks for your post!
Growing up a florist who was a schriner,mason said schriners hospital would help with my artifical leg.My mother +father were middle class family raising 3 children,so any help with a new leg would bea great help.,As soon as they received information that we were catholics and members of St Gregory church we never heard from schriners again.
I think you were getting scammed. I have never gotten a call from Shriners. All that being said I never give donations to ANYONE on the phone. I give where I see the actual person or I visit the fundraisers. Don’t blame the organizations, Please! Donate smart if you are out of work your survival comes first. If you have the money and your heart tells you to donate then donate, it is as simple as that. Remember if someone is being ignorant on the phone just hang up!
Wow. We couldn’t get help either and I’m trying to figure out why.
I, for a very short time, worked as a telemarketer. I thought we were collecting for breast cancer. Until the following month we were collecting for St. Judes. I asked and found out my employer donates a set amount to charities and in return they give him a list of names, addresses and phone numbers of people that had donated to them in the past. Once he got enough ‘donations’ to cover the amount he donated the rest was his to do with as he wished. I will never donate to any organization that asks for money on the phone again. Most of the organization’s that he donated to and received names from were major charties that I had donated to in the past. Now that I know that they sell my name I won’t be donating to them either.
Wisdom! I appreciated reading your experience thanks! It’s frustrating for us building and orphanage and adopting a child who the shriners refuse to help, because we attempt a lot of fundraising but BECAUSE we don’t have a well known name, tax deductions, fancy mailings, obnoxious phone calls and shiny website, we get a few dollars at a time from a few non wealthy friends and family members. And 100 percent of every dollar other than gofundme or youcaring fees when someone donates online, as well as Western Union fees for international transfers, all the rest goes to the kids. But people will more often donate to organizations with millionaire ceos than next door humble dogooders who sacrifice groceries, medical care, and necessities just to help somebody. I get so PISSED as we watch people suffer with no help and so many resources in this country get shuffled around amongst so few.
There is much i can say ,but i will refrain here. My father is a 32nd degree freemason and i –yes i will never give to the shriners. –sorry but doing good does NOT cancel out the evil —no matter what they think.
Thank you thank you thank you for this comment!!!!!!!!!!!!! AMEN!!!God bless you :)
I have been a member of the Eastern Star, and L.O.S.N.A.-(LADIES ORIENTAL SHRINE OF NORTH AMERICA) for many years. And for many of those years I have worked on fundraising events for Shriners Hospital. None of these fundraising events have EVER INVOLVED MAKING PHONE CALLS FOR DONATIONS , to my know OR BOTHledge!! The Masons, Shriners, Eastern Stars, and L.O.S.N.A.s that I know well DO NOT solicit via phone calls…EVER! They send out newsletters to members, posters, announcements on radio, and word of mouth. I also, with a great bunch of ladies from one of my court’s units have the pleasure of being a “SHINER LADY CLOWN” to amuse the kid’s at the Hospital and events.
In conclusion, I feel all of these people were SCAM-CALLED! THE BEST BET WOULD BE TO GO TO THE SHRINERS’ HOSPITAL WEBSITES TO VOLUNTEER , DONATE OR BOTH. YOU CAN ALSO CONTACT A LOCAL MASONIC LODGE, OR MASON.
BEWARE!! IF THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK, A SCAM- CALL IS A GOOD WAY TO COLLECT THE $$$, AFTER ALL, THERE ARE PLENTY OUT THERE SELLING MANY INSURANCE POLICIES, WINDOWS, HOME IMPROVEMENT AND GOD KNOWS WHAT ELSE TO THE ELDERLY AND ANYBODY ELSE WHO WILL LISTEN AND GIVE CONSENT!!
In September of 1974 I was rushed from Beaumont TX to Galveston John Sealy hospital in heart failure. I was 5 weeks old. At the time my Dad was a sheet metal worker my mom stayed at home with me. The state troopers held the ferry going to Galveston island for 2 hours waiting for me to get there. When I arrived and was checked into the ER the doctors told my mom I need open heart surgery and stomach surgery. Again I was 5 weeks old I was 19″ and 5lbs and dyeing. My parents did not have the $60000 to pay for my surgeries. A Shriners representative heard about this little baby that was dyeing and the parents couldn’t afford the care needed. So they paid for everything I needed. I was one of the first infants to receive open heart surgery in 1974. The doctor that invented the procedure on infants performed my surgery. Not only myself but my daughter wouldn’t be here had they not DONATED $60000 to my parents. We are all sceptics nothing wrong with that but don’t take your insecurities about being unemployed or selfish out on an organization that has been helping children since 1870. They depend on donations to help these children me included. Everytime I see a Shriner taking donaations I give back to them. I have donated to them10s of ththousanin my 22 years as anthousandS through my eyes they are not the ones who suck. Lets hope your children or grandchildren don’t need care that’s too expensive.
@ Marshall,
How is this guy insecure because he WAS unemployed!??
Also, he definitely is NOT being Selfish either!
HE WAS UNEMPLOYED AT THAT TIME AND THE WOMAN WAS BEING RUDE AND NASTY!!!! What was he suppose to give if he didn’t have anything at that time.
Also, this guy wrote this in 2003….it has been posted online that long.
He WAS just sharing HIS experience!
I am glad you are doing well, and Shriners was good to you.
I don’t believe that the call came from Shriners, especially after reading all of these posts. My elderly mother got calls every year and gave to Shriners. It was not until we had to take her check books and credit cards that we thought anything of it. They asked her to leave cash in an envelope under the doormat. That is not a legitimate call. My advice to donate to any organization is to go directly to their website.
HERES AN IDEA…HANG THE PHUCKING PHONE UP AS SOON AS THE PERSON WANTS MONEY. OR DO LIKE ME, AND PHUCK WITH THEM FOR A BIT…”SURE. MY CREDIT NUMBER 4331-1234-6745-CATS”
What a shame. I was going to my computer and donate $10.00 until read the reviews about how they collect money and the methods used. When I read “Screw You Shriners I decided to leave it and not donate. I am sorry you are unemployed, because I know the feeling. Sad to say, and people may hate me for this buy when one is unemployed charity begins at home.
Dear Randy,
It seems many missed the point when you initially posted this some 13 yrs ago (people should look at dates), & some still continue to miss the point. I think your “vent” was good bc if nothing else it got the ball rolling for a good discussion, as well as a wealth of info… even. If that info was 13 yrs late.
;-)
Hearing from Shriners on both sides of the track (1 side being those who don’t use and/or know nothing about telemarketers being used to raise funds for their particular group, the other side saying their group does) was… enlightening.
I can understand why some might use such folks to raise funds, especially if they can’t get their own to volunteer to call… or take calls during specific fundraising events, like a Christian radio station back in WA state (where I used to live for 18 yrs) that I listen to over the web now that has 2 fundraisers a yr as they are listener supported & don’t use commercials & whose 2 fundraisers are staffed strictly by volunteers (I used to church w 1 of the radio hosts).
I can also understand why some of the Shriner groups choose to raise funds personally in order to have better control & avoid such instances as you sadly experienced.
I also found the (former? I think he was & no longer is… at 62 my ADHD still gets the best of me sometimes & I don’t bother to reread so… ) telemarketer’s revelation on the inner workings… revelating!
:-D
I had a similar experience eons ago w a policeman & fireman’s fund raising telemarketer. I now understand the “tap” thing. Every yr I donated I think $15 to this thing. It was the same guy. You cd hear others in the bkgnd making calls but his voice w his unique NY accent, etc… well, I just recognized him by voice. I supported it bc 1 of my late uncles was a police officer for the city of Madison WI back in the 60’s & 70’s during the Vietnam war protests. He lost part of his ear when 1 of the communist agitators dropped a brick from a bldg on him. But that’s another story. I digress. Did I happen to mention… ADHD?
Anyways I lost my job & this guy, who had been polite when. I said yes, got bent out of shape & kept on like your gal, only more persistent. The final straw was trying to lay a guilt trip on me & how that wd make police suffer. I told him goodbye &… well, he was still ranting when I ended it.
Soon after I read about this policeman’s fund thing & found out they only gave pennies on each $1 they got to the actual policeman’s fund. I was enlightened that instant regarding these guys.
Anyways that was 20+ yrs ago. Now I try to donate directly.
So, if I understood correctly, you were ranting about your experience. Your feelings at the time. You did not solicit any responses tho you certainly got them. This is your blog. It was 13 yrs ago. I’m sure you’ve been reemployed since. And while you said, at that time, w the emotions you had back then based on your experience, that you’d never give to Shriners again, it didn’t necessarily mean that, after reading a number of comments that might have shed light on the source of the problem, you would never give again, depending on the situation. That is, you might have changed your opinion since, tho you never say that, bc the whole point of your initial blog 13 yrs ago was to… VENT! And what’s the purpose of venting but to let off some steam in order to avoid an explosion. Doesn’t mean it’s a permanent solution or agenda. Simply venting, which we all do in real life. Someone might say they’re going to get even w their boss or coworker, or even something like “I’m going to kill, hurt or destroy” someone. It’s just venting, in order to avoid doing something really bad… or stupid.
Is that about it? I was actually looking up a different group & found their acronym mentioned by someone commenting, which is why I was brought here. It was an interesting read. I don’t expect you to reply. I’m sure you’ve got better things to do than reply to a 13 yr old blog. Right?
People are just a bit thin skinned these days, eh.
Take care & have a blessed day.
Respectfully yours, doug
THERE ARE FAR TO MANY SCAM ARTISTS OUT HERE… SCAM MAGGOTTS I CALL THEM… ALWAYS REPORT THIS … YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE MOST TIMES IF ITS REAL OR NOT YES THERE ATE SOME PRO’S OUT HERE BUT …IF YOU WANT TO DONATE… BEST THING IS FOR YOU TO CALL ORGANIZATION YOURSELF AND OFFER… DONT TURN AWAY BECAUSE ONE ROTTEN LOWLIFE TRIED TO GET YOU..CONCIDER YOURSELF BLESSED THAT YOU DIDNT GIVE IN
Unfortunately, those calling asking for donations are often times Shrine Circus Fund, which is not a non-profit organization and donations are not tax deductible. Very little (I mean, very little) of their funds are actually donated to a local Shriners Hospital.
Keep your money and donate directly to the Shriners Hospital in your area. They are fantastic!!!
Those at the Shrine Circus Fund are thieves and are known to use the money for vacations and parties.
I’ve gone to Shriners to get my club foot fixed and they have never charged us. They need donations to give kids surgeries. They rely on donations to do everything. Plus it’s a non profit organization. Rated 4 star from charity navigator
Hello Folks,
Forget the rest!, listen to me!!!
GEORGE
I am a Freemason and a Schriner!
There are annoying people in every avenue of life. Don’t hold the good intentions hostage. Feel free to donate by any method that makes you feel satisfied. Yes, direct payment on line is probably the most efficient way to assure the highest percentage to the bottom line. The other methods of soliciting are mearly to remind the general public of our legitimate needs and to highlight an organization that would otherwise not be on your mind!
God bless all of those who donate or have donated to this wonderfuland amazing organization !!!!!!!
Yes, the children need help. Yes, Shriners needs money. Most telephone solicitors calling me on behalf of Shriners are belligerent, rude and put 20% -30% of my donation in their pocket. People above them put more of my money in their pockets after that. About five years ago, I asked the caller how much actually went to Stiners. The answer was 51%. I immediately said take my name off your list and never call me again. I have received 40 more calls from multiple numbers representing the same group since then. In each case, I have asked them to take my name off their list (yes, I answer my phone too much). They have been ugly, nasty, you name it. Tonight, I let the gentleman know what I thought of him and his group about stuffing their pockets with what I’m sure is more than half of funds collected. Yes I was mad because their predatory tactics are succsessful against people not willing to tell them to FO. He actually invited me to come down and tell him that to his face. That’s what we’re dealing with here. You should never give a penny to Shriner phone solicitors (they’ll call you forever if you do). I’ve read several accounts on line from former solicitor reps who say the same thing. It could be referred to as a scam. Donate on line. I understand people need jobs but this group is trash.
I NEVER give ANYTHING to Goodwill! They are the biggest scam of all! They have one of the highest paid CEO’s getting rich of the people and one of the smallest ratios for money taken in and money actually given to charities. They over price thier goods and Target donates clearance items that don’t sell and Goodwill prices them higher than Target original price. They sell broken junk at store prices.
I don’t know if this person’s story is true, or not, but I’m a Shriner and I can assure you, we DO NOT use telemarketers as fundraisers for our Children’s Hospitals. If he did get such a call, it was bogus. Donations can be made through any of our Shrine Temples internationally, or directly to any of our 22 hospitals. We do many fundraisers during the year, but none entail phone solicitations. On behalf of Shriners everywhere and the millions of children we help, we thank everyone for supporting “our kids”.
I am intrested in hearing from families that have been helped by the Shriners. If you have to travel to take your child to a Shrine Hospital for treatment or Doctor follow up, were you given money by your local shrine club or local temple for gas , food and over night lodging if your child stayed over night in a shrine hospital? Thank you so much!
I would question whether this person was truly calling on behalf of the Shriners. The use of the term “retards” sounds suspect. Perhaps it was someone perpetrating a fraud?
Shriners is not the rip off but the telemarketing companies that call you. I use to call on behalf of many organization s which one was the S(W)hiners Hospital. Only difference was all of us DONATED/VOLUNTEER our time. A corporate sponsor would cover the operational cost of phones, office, utilities etc-which was the airline I worked for. These organizations are just too damn lazy to go out and get corporate sponsors and volunteers. Yep those telemarketing companies are scum as they take 75-80% of what you donate to cover their expenses and payroll. I do not give any money to any organization anymore. It is best to mail your donation directly to the organization, there you know 97% of that donation is going to what you were specifically donating to! I also hate how SHRINER’S heavily exploit, YES EXPLOIT those children to beg for money!! St Judes and all the other’s have volunteer celebrities, volunteer spokespersons or volunteered staff speakers, speaking for donations while showing filmed excerpts of the causes what they asking you to donate to. DO NOT donate to any organizations that pilfer, exploit their patients usually children. Do not donate to any s pokesperson’s whom have not shown thier services are volunteered. They will tell you if they volunteered or was paid to speak upon the organization they are representing. It must be shown during the commercial.
Randy, how do you know that this was a legitimate call from the Shriners? I am a part of the Shriners and I have never heard of such thing. As for the Shriners exploiting children (like one person commented) this is entirely false. I work my ass off to help the Shriners and raise money. This is not something the Shriners would do. I can call you from a number I have set up with a name that tells you I’m from an organization and ask you to donate to a false cause. I can have envelopes printed up and mail them to the people that commit. And it would all be false. Before posting a screw the Shriners post you might want to find out more about he Shriners.
My son went to the Shriners Hospital from 12 years until he turned 18. They were absolutely amazing in their care, treatment and compassion to our family. His left leg was amputated at age 12 due to being born with multiple birth defects due to his father being exposed to agent Orange spraying in Vietnam war in 1969. The Shriners are the best charity to donate to anywhere in the U.S.! They gave our son everything he needed to be mobile and allow him to be a very productive citizen. He is now almost 46 and he appreciates all the services afforded to him by the Shriners for many years.
After reading the “rant,” there is no doubt in my mind that the caller did NOT represent Shriner’s Hospitals for Children. It was a scam.
It seems that way to me as well. When looking into donating to an organization, I don’t do it via telemarketers, but directly instead. There are online resources like Charity Navigator or Guidestar that help you to know if your funds are going to “administration” or the actual services. Some organizations manage their donations better than others. In looking at Shriner’s, they are listed as 4 stars (our of 4). I see many testaments here to the good they have done. I pray that Randy’s rants will be constructive to help others see the truth (goodness) vs. what is a lie (evil).
Don’t be stupid don’t give your money to these drunks
NO DONATIONS TO SHRINERS!
My daughter was born 3 1/2 mo. premature, weighing a mere 1 lb.12 oz., with a 7% chance of being born alive. As a result, she had physical disabilities that required surgery. As if this weren’t bad enough, a (nameless) family member swindled my entire life savings leaving us homeless and penniless. A friend of mine who was affiliated with the Shriners told me to contact them for free medical assistance, which I did but they ignored us. 28 yrs later I have built a multi-million dollar real estate empire. I will never forget how badly Shriners treated us, so all charitable donations are only to animal rescue organizations where those in need get help. Definitely not Shriners!
We are screwed, now he announces like his son he endorses (Freemasons) Shriners Charity Networks, our nations largest convicted underage philanthropic child sex slavery network. With over 38,000 documented (FBI 2010 Indianapolis Indiana Brotherhood/Shriners Charity networks) and detailed rapes by highest level members across the nation. These are Freemasons/administrators in over 192 lodges and shrines of all rites. An average of 350 serial child rapists at minimum per state that are protected by ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT. We are screwed by these people who are also are largest drug cartel operating from every courthouse across the nation. In 2010 StJudes/SHriners used over 400 MILLION in charity donations to run their private child slavery network and wrote off child sex parties of up to 600k per party to taxpayers (lost their non profit status in 2010..how did they get it back). Shriners/St Judes keep 95% of all donations for administrative purposes. Giving 5% or less to their cause. Each year Shriners/ST Judes keep 14 years of donations for themselves, in ten years they keep for illegal crime 140 years worth of childrens charity donations for themselves and in the meantime our nations largest CONVICTED kidnappers, rapists, organ harvesters and murderers of children in the U.S. and ABROAD. POS shithole politicians…. could never have corrupted our country without the help of the Irish Mafia whom are the most prolific violators.
Wow! Your information is quite outlandish and patently false. I doubt you could prove the documentation of any of this.
Here’s an idea. These parent’s that depend on and use the free medical through Shriners, maybe they should serve time cold calling/calling for donations. They can give back to organizations that have helped their familys.
Sorry if u don’t like what I got to say, I have had/raised my daughter. I am thankful every day she was/is healthy and had no problems (my insurance wouldn’t cover).
I get calls of this sort all the time. When I tell them my husband and I are seniors, on a fixed income and helping to support 4 grandchildren, they persist in their pursuit of a smaller donation. That is when I cut loose on them with, “What is it, you don’t understand about fixed income and supporting 4 grandchildren? I think my husband and I need a little financial support, don’t you?” I then hang up and block their number, as useless as that always seems to be.
It’s very interesting some of the comments who are trashing this guy. He is absolutely right. They bothered HIM! He was polite but the caller wasn’t. Out of work, working, it doesn’t matter. YOU decide where or IF you donate. Since when does someone have to justify anything!
I used to get calls supposedly wanting Police donations. I refused. I’ve been a vixtim of crime and the Police acted like they were doing me a favor by showing up! Years ago I was driving with a passenger and we were sideswiped by a van and I slammed into a snowbank. I was fortunate no one was on that swath of highway or I would’ve been killed. Some Good Samatitans had a cell and called. Did the ambulance show up? NO! Did the Highway Patrol show up? NO! Fortunately I and my passenger were just shaken up and the Good Samaritans dug us out and I thanked them profusely. Then we went on our way. Years later who did I get UNSOLICITED calls fro ? Police expecting ME to help finance their Policemens’ Ball. I said NO! I will NOT pay for their entertainment. Your job as a Police officer is to help! It’s too much quit! But I will NOT finace you! Whwn I needed Police they acted like they were doing ME a favor. Yet my tax money helps support them! Do I donate to the Hifhway Patrol? NO! When I needed them, whwn they were called by someone else they didn’t show. Think I’m going to support you? NO! They don’t like it? Tough!
I had a few months back someone claiming to seek donations to help my local Police. I refused. Pressure pressure. I was taught as a kid that no means NO! We don’t have to explain, defend or justify anything. And I quit a telemarketer job hating bothering people. I was NEVER nasty or pushy. It wasn’t worth the crappy pay. I was always polite because I have been on phone customer service and it was made very clear. No means no, always be polite and thank them for their time.
Our homes are OURS! I don’t need to answer the door and if I choose to I have the right to politely say leave. You don’t yeas I’ll get testy. You weren’t invited so don’t tell ME how I have to behave. I have the right to NOT answer the phone or put it on answering machine. I have the right NOT to return a stranger’s call. I didn’t ask you to call, and I have every right to say no thank you on donations. I control where my money goes! If I choose to donate I will call YOU!
How dare you people trash this guy! You’re helped by these people great! No one else is obligated. He was polite, she kept after him and he has every right to be how he was. They wouldn’t take no for an answer then they hung up on him. He doesn’t owe them anything or feel bad over how he was. It was HIS privacy violated!
There are too many scammers out there.
And as for him missing his coffee and one of you getting an attitude? I know exactly what he’s going through. I’ve gone through 10 years of financial heck! I miss my car I had to give up! I know what it means to go hungry! I know what it’s like to jump through hoops to get food from people claiming they help. I know what it’s like to do without. Those things suddenly turn i to a luxury. People have never been through some financial hardship are clueless! Take away your fancy schmantzy Smart Phone and you’ll be missing it too! Ya might even learn to have a little empathy when others go without.
This man isn’t judging all by the snot who called him he’s judging that person alone and he has the right. They bothered HIM! They wouldn’t take no for an answer. He should’ve hung up to save them the trouble.
His money his choice to donate job or no. If others want to give money to a cold caller they don’t know, they didn’t ask to call who can say anything? Be your guest! Others don’t need to explain, defend, justify their actions to others!
Do not call lists don’t work by the way.
I think this man had a right to say what he did! I can’t tell you how many times I’m called for donations. policeman galas, firemen, clothes donations.
The most absurd ones are from the Highway Patrol. In 1993 I was driving with a passenger. It was winter. We were going onto the highway and a we got sideswiped by a van goeing the wrong way. I ran into a snow bank. I had no cell at the time and he didn’t. Well these Good Samaritans came and as they were digging us out they called the Highway Patrol. We could’ve been killed becauae as I was trying to avoid that van I had to cross highway to end up in that snowbank and could’ve been killed. No traffic fortunately. Who came? NO ONE! NO ambulance, NO Police, NO Highway Patrol! And they had the nerve to demand money from me?
I told one guy who was nasty soliciting for the Policemen’s Gala I told him I don’t finance their parties! My taxes pay Police and Fire. Had no guilt for hanging up.
I sympathize with those getting treatment for breast cancer. But I did NOT give them my number. They tried the guilt trip and hung up!
My money is MY money. I decide who or IF I give or where. If I choose to donate anywhere I will call THEM!
I just saw a Shriner’s Christmas commercial with the kids. Know what ticks me off about it? Displaying these kids to feel sorry for. Making THEM do the pitxh. So are people helping because they care or because they feel sorry for them? These kids should be treated NOT exploited.
So my advice is this. Don’t donate to anyone soliciting by phone. You didn’t call them they intruded on you. They won’t take no for an answer. If you want to donate to anyone you call them!
It”s your money and you decide where or IF you donate without pressure or guilt. When you call them it’s voluntary what you do. Someone comes to my hoise to solicit I DO have the right to be rude. I didn’t invite them! You call me I DO have the right to say no, listen and say no be rude when the other end isn’t pleasant or not answer the phone.
I’m on this guy’s side all the way for how he was treated when they bothered him first.
And if people don’t like my view I couldn’t care leas becauae the only person I answer to is myself!
The world is filled with illogical people. If Loveshriners was legit they would solicit the hospitals. Instead they choose to solicit uneducated people who blindly give with their emotions rather than their brains. The only real charity is one which you know for sure is legitimate. That’s exactly why so many charities have been exposed over the years. Nevertheless people are slow or too dumb to learn the truth. Wake up and see reality.
Ive been a member of shriners circus for a number of years. I assure you, we treat all the children, do not molest them or sell them into slavery outside the US, call for donations, or misappropriate CEO salaries. We are a legitimate organization dedicated to helping young victims of the impending socialism in the US, at no cost to their families.
No one likes telemarketers- even I hate telemarketers! But if youve ever been one, or loved one, perhaps, youd not judge them so harshly for their lavish lifestyles and multiple customized cars. Some telemarketers on the front lines of our struggle are much richer and more selfless than most CEOs of charitable organizations like shriners. And good on them- by the bootstraps and into a shriners childrens hospital, is my motto!
If it weren’t for the Shriners my daughter would not be walking today.The Shriners in Kentucky from1986 to 1991 went so far beyond what they do. From the Doctors to the nurse and the Shrine Men all were AMAZING.Even all of other staff and all those who donate there time to help are great.I wish everyday I could donate but every cent I earn helps provide for myself and my elderly and ill mother.When I can I also help my Daughter and her 5 children .I cant say enough about this Hospital. From 1991 till 2003 my daughter was A Los Angeles Shrine kid.There we meet Even more Amazing people.We meet a lot of Totally Awesome kids also these kids go through what a lot of adult would not .I tell people to go visit the kids are Very inspiring.
Thank you for listening I could go on and on totally love everything to do with this Hospital.
Heart Broken unable to donate
You’re a fucking idoit. If you are “smart” enough to have the employment background you say you do, then you should be able to understand that not every charity in desperate need is able to properly screen it’s mostly voluntary phone solicitors.
Oh, and I also noticed how you bragged basically on your devoted giving to many charities. Wow. If you need recognition then consider not donating. You’re obviously missing the whole point of giving.
One more thing. Yes, times are very tough. Sorry you can’t find your ideal job in your choice line of work. But guess what! There ARE jobs out there. Hell, my background is in education, but I have cleaned condos, rentals, chopped wood, stripped barn wood, cared for children and elders, ran errands, and a host of other things I can’t possibly recollect.
Get over yourself. You’re not special. The children at Shriners are. Don’t, and I mean don’t take all your bullshit out on them.
Get a life
“Get a life”
Says the bitch, who doesn’t HAVE one. Shut the fuck up, Karen.
There are too many organizations asking for donations and most of them if not all are full of crap. I was wondering about Shriners hospital and hoping it wasn’t full of crap especially using very sick children and parents trying to get through a day knowing how sick their child is and how long do they have left to be with him/her. And I agree the kids are used for the commercials and ect… which is mentally sick (but it’s cheaper) playing on people and their emotions not knowing what the people your having kids beg for money are going through. The commercials that are run over and over and over again is agrevating and looks really greedy and makes me want to question why at least 8 commercial within an hour long program and the commercials sometimes are back to back. It’s a bit much. Then to learn parents really do have to make a payment and maybe not the hospital staff or doctors but Danny Thomas’s daughter and CEO and ect. Are definitely not in financial danger like the hospitals are (if that’s even true or just another way to get money.) Isn’t that consider extortion definitely false advertising and probably can find a few more things that are illegal. Shame on you people for using sick children and stressed out parents just to make money and NOT doing what you say you are and doing what you need to. Just another fake ass organization too good to be true.
Three things about all those 19 dollar please ads bother me 1]all the ads are based on the same format and use the same catch phrases they appear to all be produced by the same ad agency 2] they might do some good but they use the crippled kids or maimed vets or sick dogs /cats to play on
our sympathy and what i am going to say next will piss off lots of folks but THE FUND RAISERS trot out these poor sad people and take advantage of their misfortune to make money although it is for a somewhat better reason but the action of using them only differs from the old time freak shows that some small % of the funds go to help them 3] what part of the money raised is the cost of running these ads 100’s of times a week and producing more ads by for profit ad agencies [ not that i begrudge anyone making a profit]
The most amazing thing about this trashing of the Shriners here is this: Did anyone ever actually check that it was really the Shriners who made the call or just another trash bag scammer playing on the emotions of people who donate to charity??
I saw absolutely NOTHING in the story that convinces me it was a legit donation attempt, but you never once doubted it was genuine and instead only found fault that the caller was pushy.
Uh, so let me see if I follow your thinking: You expect that after I get a phone call from an organization that asks for donations somewhat regularly that I’m supposed to go research if the call was really the organization that called? And how do you propose I do that? Go call the Shriner’s organization and ask them if they just called me? Reverse engineer the phone call and see if it goes back to a trunk of numbers that traces back to the organization? Send an email to the Fez hotline and hope that someone know what the hell I’m talking about?
And even if I did, how does it make it better? Would you rather assume that this was some fly by night group acting like a bunch of asshats that are playing on other people’s emotions or would you rather really know that it was the real organization? Given how pushy the person was, wouldn’t that make it worse?
What ever a person does for a company reflects on that company so I would figure if they didn’t want that kind of publicity they would hire and train the person about the proper way in dealing with people. Show kindness compassion and respect for others if the man said he couldn’t afford it then so be it thank him for his past donations and politely tell him maybe next time and have a grate day. The more time you spend hounding that one person for money could be spent on the next person maximizing the probability that you get donations to help others instead of turning away potential doners that may donate later or the next time. And if I belonged to that group I would be looking for bad repor and contact the head of the group to respond to the offended person and try to amend the relationship with that person. One person lost is one person that could have helped next time but now it has turned him away from helping them ever again. People have problems as meny of you know just as the kids and family’s that turn to these groups for help and compassion so should we show others compassion and understanding instead of criticizing them I hope just because one person from that company made him angry towards that group doesn’t turn him away from trying to help others in need because it’s people like him that others have that help that they need in there time of need.
Matthew 7
1
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Fuck your fake Bible(aka Book of Magic) you brainwashed idiot!!
Pics or it NEVER happened, bruh.
Fake I guess you think we just appeared out of a boul of soup male and female at the same time just so we could spawn people like you who thinks we just happened lol, if only you could imagine with that little brain of your’s the odds of everything happening to spawn any life form much less the universe so that a planet called earth could develop for just one form of life let alone a whole world of different species, and you think it just happened without any devine intervention.
My guess is the the call was not from Shriner’s but was a scam. Once you agreed to a nominal amount, she would “save you the trouble of have to wait for the envelope and mail it in” and would be happy to take your credit card info on the phone!
Sounds like you may have been the target of a scam. I get scam calls all the time from people claiming to be from this charity or that, when in fact they are scammers who want to get you credit card, bank info or other personal info. Don’t assume such calls are ever legit. Of the charities I give to, I never receive a call. Letter, perhaps, Call – never. If in-doubt, and we should all be very skeptical these days, I tell them I’ve already donated and hang up. I might go to the charity’s official website and make a donation, but I NEVER EVER donate over the phone to an unsolicited call. EVER.
Randy, you end your rant by saying you’re not going to donate to Shriners again, looking at your list of donations you never donated to shriners’ you boast about donating to other charities in an attempt to show everybody how good you are. Well I hope you never encounter a relative in need of Shriners Hospital for the care of a sick child, you wold have to tell him or her to keep the child home because “a Shriners fundraiser tried to get me to donate and I didn’t like her attitude”. Most of the replies DO N0T agree with your rant. Research the facts, you place your opinion on one fundraiser, it’s no wonder why you can’t find a job
Wild: you come to my website to tell me that my family won’t be helped by the Shriner’s because I called out a rude person that was soliciting donations, that I didn’t brag about donating to the Shriner’s (which you can guess is implied as I donated to everyone under the sun) and I don’t research facts which is why I can’t find a job. If you haven’t guessed already, I don’t care what people think of my opinions on matters that I post here because it’s *my* opinion that I’ve shared. And if you think it’s OK to hound people for donations while they are unemployed, go start your own blog and ask for money.
By the way, in terms of research, this post was from 2003 – job staying current, ya ingrate.
I have been a Mason and a Shriner for 42 years and after retiring from my job I volunteered as a Shrine Driver, driving children and a parent from Miami to Shriners hospital in Tampa Fl. twice weekly for their “Free” treatment.
We would leave Miami at 5:00AM and sometimes did not return to Miami until 11:00 PM.We stopped in Ft Myers where our passengers could receive a” free” breakfast supplied by McDonald’s. So for someone who is totally ignorant of what they are talking about to disparage The Shriners is very sad.
By the way I neither drink alcohol nor use tobacco products so it can not be said that I am an alcoholic
Fraternally
Roy
Shriners themselves are scam artists, why wouldn’t they employ scammers to collect money for them? Even those kids on tv don’t know they’re being used by this so called charity. There’s been no change to how they manage their finincials, they’ve just rebranded themselves. Some people have a short memory though, as in on as far back as yesterday’s tv commercials, so long as you think your money is going to a disabled kid you can sleep a little better tonight because you’re so fucking awesome! The guys in the funny hats think so too, little jimmy just got them a ballroom downtown and an open bar, score!
“The Sentinel reported that in 1985 the Shriners kept a whopping 71 percent of the money raised, about $21.7 million. This went to pay for a range of clubhouse expenses, including the upkeep of private bars, restaurants and golf courses. They also used the money to pay for conventions, travel and entertainment for their 880,000 members and, again, fund raising.
The Shrine’s most lucrative source of income is the circuses throughout the country. They generated about $23 million in 1985, the paper reported. The records show that LESS THAN 2 percent, or $346,251, went to the medical care of the children. I find this shocking. The Sentinel cited Internal Revenue Service records showing that although the Shrine is the richest charity in the nation, it gave its 22 hospitals for children less than one-third of the gross collected from the public in 1984. The REMAINDER was spent on food, travel, entertainment, fraternal ceremonies and fund-raising. -Cassandra Frost, Editorial writer for Salon, 2-5-06
Too bad they have now fired so many of their wonderful, experienced, independent thinking staff for not getting the jab. This place is more focused on politics than kids. That has proven to be true over the past several years – even before the novel coronavirus.
I don’t and won’t give to any tele marketers as one doesn’t know if their scammers. I tell them I send in my donations by mail, and I do. I do detest tele marketers especially police and fire fighters that call. They just keep pushing and pushing un till you have to hang up on them! All tele marketing calls should be banned especially when one works all day, comes home, cook’s dinner and that’s when they call the most.
If one wants or can donate that should be up to them, not someone calling for money.
That wasn’t a call from the Shriners; they would NEVER use terms like “burnt” and “retarded” kids. That was a boiler room cold calling sales company that quite often employs people of dubious reputation. The Shriners AND St. Jude do some wonderful work and you can get a full accounting of how they use their donations with a couple of clicks on Google; donate on their site though, NOT through a third party of bottom dwelling high pressure sales team.
Gnomes being good to themselves:
Shriners Hospitals for Children paid CEO Craig Ono, M.D., Orthopedic Surgeon, total compensation of $2,692,183 based on fiscal 2020 reporting. This included a supplemental executive retirement plan payment of $1,932,426
Shriners, an off branch of the Mason’s One World Government perversion.
Parasitic scum.