Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I was totally thinking that they just actually took that stuff and gave it to needy people.
Good evening, I'm Ben Bauman.
And I'm Jana Corrie. They just came to Topeka, and they're already everywhere.
Tall, yellow boxes — donation bins for clothes and shoes.
The company, Planet Aid, claims they serve a need in poor, Third World countries.
But that's not the whole story.
49 News reporter Gena Terlizzi investigates where your donations are really going.
Sandy Purcell and her husband just started their own business: a gym in North Topeka.
Soon after they opened, they got a visitor.
Somebody came by and they told us about the box, and they said that they were putting it in businesses in the area.
And they said that if we wanted to, they could put one here.
They agreed, and soon after a Planet Aid truck dropped this yellow bin off in the Midtown Fitness parking lot.
Apparently, you can put used clothes and shoes in it,
and they take the used clothes and shoes and get them to somebody who really needs them.
But that's not exactly how it works.
Planet Aid does take donations, but they don't go to those in need.
Instead, the company sells them by the bundle to wholesalers for a profit.
Some of that profit does go to fund projects in Third World countries, but not much.
Not according to the American Institute of Philanthropy, a watchdog group that ranks charities.
In their most recent report, the institute noted that Planet Aid only gives 23% of the money they raise to those in need.
Because of that, Planet Aid gets a failing grade.
We shared the results of our investigation with Sandy.
The American Institute of Philanthropy actually gives the charity that owns those boxes an "F".
Really?
They sell the clothes and shoes bulk to wholesalers ... and by their estimation,
only 23% of the profits they make actually end up going to charity.
You are kidding! Well I had no idea.
You'd think that it went to somebody who needed clothes and shoes, you know,
not that they're going to sell it off, and donate a little bit of money to somebody who needs clothes and shoes!
Purcell says she's disappointed because the program seemed like such a convenient way to give.
I'm thinking: hey, I've got 15 or 20 pairs of extra tennis shoes;
why don't I just throw them in there so some kid can wear them, you know.
And now I'm thinking no kid wears them unless momma pays for them!
So that's not right.
Now Sandy is reconsidering the decision to give Planet Aid prime space in her parking lot.
I'm really thinking I'd better call them and tell them to come pick up this box!
But she did have one more question: if 23% of the money raised goes to those in need, she wanted to know:
Well, what do they do with the other 77%?
We wanted to know, too, so after weeks of unreturned phone calls and emails,
we decided to make the trip to the Planet Aid regional headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri.
How the staff reacted to our surprise visit,
and their explanation for what happens to the money they bring in
― that's tomorrow night on 49 News at 10. Gena Terlizzi, KTKA 49 ABC News.