So, I called them back. Lady asked me if I had any clothes she could have. I said I'd give them the ones I am currently wearing, but she would have to share a blanket. They hung up on me...
[What follows is a statement of personal opinion which contains speculation regarding certain points. Do your own research, and form your own opinions regarding these matters.]
Shannon,
It depends on what you consider to be "legit". If you consider a "charity" which is primarily about getting free merchandise (your donations) and re-selling them for a nice profit, the vast majority of which goes into the pockets of one person, to be legitimate, I would have to take issue with you.
Atlanta has a problem with some scam "thrift stores" which get their merchandise by soliciting the public for donations in the name of various charitable causes, but are all about making an individual a lot of money . The name, and the supposed causes, change from time to time, as the public gets wise to one identity after another. But the slimeball behind the operation remains the same. They appear to skirt around the law by donating a pittance to one questionable charity or another (I suspect these may be operated by them as well, directly or indirectly). But primarily these "charities" operate more like a very profitable commercial activity.
Is "Hope House" the latest incarnation of this disgusting activity? I do not know at this point, but I suspect it may be. I can tell you this much, "Hope House" is not listed with Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), and I personally consider that to be a bad sign.
Here are a few tips before you donate to anyone:
In general, well run charities do little or no cold calling (contacting people on the phone who have no prior relationship with the charity).
Some charities whose names we all know are not worthy of our donations. While most of these were well run charities at one time, over the years self serving people have obtained leadership positions, and the usage of donations has taken a turn towards high spending and high living, and away from the original charitable goal. Fortunately, Charity Navigator makes it easy to check such organizations before you give. These "charities gone bad" are among some of the most aggressive telephone solicitation operations.
There are a great many phony charities. Unfortunately, laws regulating charities are inadequate and under-enforced. These "charities" are an absolute gold mine for people who have no conscience or ethics. They are frequently "legitimate" on paper - they have charitable tax status, are registered with the state, etc., because doing these things makes it very hard to go after them. If they have an overhead of 95% (in other words if you give them $1.00, $0.95 goes into their personal pockets) then they are still technically a "charity". Most states need stronger laws in this area, but what politician wants to run the gauntlet of going after a (hypothetical) charity like "Save the Puppies" or "Be Kind to Sick Children"? It is a pretty short list.
I strongly suggest that you use CharityNavigator.ORG to research any charity you are considering donating to. In Georgia, you can also call the Secretary of States "Securities and Business Regulations Division" at 404-656-3920 to see if a charity is registered. I also strongly suggest that you read the web page at http://sos.georgia.gov/securities/charit.htm . But keep in mind that scam charities are frequently registered, and that the financial paperwork that they submit is (more or less) done on the honor system, so take all of this with a grain of salt.
If you want to engage in charitable giving (and I think it is something we all should do if we can) then I suggest you pick one or two areas which matter to you. Then contact charities involved in that area. Research them on Charity Navigator, and with your state's Secretary of State, or Department of Consumer Affairs. Once you are satisfied, then give. I will also pass on what I do to help manage "charity fatigue". I got tired of having my mailbox and my voice mail flooded with solicitations from those organizations I had given money to in the past. It was not only annoying, it was a waste of the money I had donated to them. So I wrote them all a letter, and I told them that I review my giving once a year. I told them I did not want them to waste money soliciting me the rest of the year, so they may contact me, in writing, once each year, in January. I also told them that it was not necessary to contact me at all, since they were already on my giving list. I told them if they solicited me by telephone, or more than once a year, they would be removed from the list of charities I consider. Now I had already been careful about which charities I allocated my limited resources too, so I can't promise everyone will get the response I did. But only one of the charities I wrote to ignored that request. That charity is now off of my list.
Giving is a wonderful thing, but when we give money to those who misuse it, we not only are squandering our resources, but we are encouraging dishonest behavior which is creating a problem for, and draining away funds from, legitimate and worthy charities.
(Got old household goods to donate? Consider The Salvation Army, National Council of Jewish Women, or any of the many churches and synagogues who pass them on to the needy, or operate thrift shops.)
BTW - I invite Hope House to reply to my concerns about them, including the names and contact info for key figures in their operation, how the donations are used, the percentage which goes to overhead and solicitation, and why they are not listed with Charity Navigator. I would also invite them to contact Charity Navigator and ask to be listed.
I would have to agree. I don't believe that this company is legit either. They call me several times a day as well. I block the number and call again using another number. I constantly tell them I don't have anything to donate over and over again. If I didn't have anything to give you yesterday, more than likely I don't have anything today either. In addition, I've gotten calls from cell phones as well asking me to donate. I find it hard to believe that there are twenty different companies in the area doing cold calls to get donations. My number is non-published and they call to say we will be in your area tomorrow. When I asked what area is that they can't seem to answer. That's because you're cold calling and have no way of knowing where I'm really located... It's sad to see all the scams people put so much tim1e into stealing from others. If they would only spend the same amount of time and energy actually searching for a job!