SCV Hospice: Mailer from out-of-state Hospice seeks local donations
June 01, 2016
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
If you got a solicitation in the mail from The Hospice Support Fund asking for a donation for the Santa Paula area Appeal think twice before you send the suggested $10 contribution: the organization has no connection whatsoever to Santa Clara Valley Hospice-Home Support Group.
“We are not benefiting from that particular Hospice,” said Sigrid Wong, coordinator of Santa Clara Valley Hospice-Home Support Group, which offers free services to clients throughout the river valley region.
Actually, it’s hard to tell who is benefitting from The Hospice Support Fund, an offshoot of the New Hope Foundation of Nashville, TN. The Hospice Support Fund uses a post office box at National Mail Processing Center in Virginia to send the solicitation and as the destination for donations.
But that doesn’t mean anyone sees much of the donations: the 2014 federal filing for The Hospice Support Fund, a 501c3 with the state of Washington noted, “According to the financial information shown…this organization devoted 20 percent of its total expenses to program services during the year reported.”
That figure does not come as a surprise: Direct Response Consulting Services — one of often two fundraisers listed for various nonprofits — in their financial filing to Washington State noted the company garnered about $29 million dollars for various charities and the “Amount to Charity Clients” was about $7.4 million.
The letter from The Hospice Support Fund notes that donations “will help us bring the blessing of home Hospice care to all Americans.”
And the letter notes, “No one wants to suffer in their final days” and paints a grim picture of what can happen at the end of life.
“As a result,” it states, “families are often left with deep regrets for years to come over how a loved one spent their final days.”
Wong said she wants to assure those that have always been supportive of the local Santa Clara Valley Hospice-Home Support Group, “We are not soliciting donations that way…”
All services of the nonprofit Santa Clara Valley Hospice-Home Support Group are offered free of charge. To learn more about the local Hospice, or how to make a donation, call 805-525-1333.
