Online Fundraisers Are Committing Elder Abuse

An older woman with a gray hair sitting in front of trees.


There was a sad story in The New York Times recently about how some fundraisers—including many politicians—trick people (particularly senior citizens) into donating more than they want to.  The story profiled Steve Vaughn, who started to go through his fathers bank statement after he died and was shocked to see 400 donations totaling more than $11K over just a four month period.  There were donations to Donald J. Trump, Mitch McConnell, Tim Scott, Steve Scalise and many others.  There were notes with the bank statements showing the 90-year old had repeatedly tried to dispute the charges with his credit card company—all to no avail.  Here is how the scam works.  Fundraisers will call you and ask you for a donation and once you agree, they will enter them into the system as a recurring payment.  Instead of taking a fixed amount, say $100, out of your account, they will take out $100 every month or sometimes every week.  They are hoping people aren’t diligent about going over their bank statements, so pay attention!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/us/politics/recurring-donations-seniors.html

Pacific Grove, CA Retiring? Think About Decluttering

A woman helping an older person with papers


The November 2020 issue of the Kiplinger Retirement Report had an article on retiring and getting rid of all of that extra junk that you have lying around—while making a profit!  For instance, called Decluttr (available on both the Apple iPhone and Google Android) where all you have to do when selling electronics (as well as accessories like video games, DVDs and CDs) is input the make and model.  They will email you a price quote that is good for four weeks and a shipping label for mailing the item.  No need to send in photos or any information, just wipe all personal data clean and send the equipment in.  Another interesting app is The RealReal which will buy designer clothes.  You just bag them up and mail them in and they apparently give a decent price for used clothes. If you have things to give away, I recommend the Church Mouse, which is owned by the First United Methodist Church in PG.  They have always been kind to us and god bless them!

https://butterflychurchpg.wixsite.com/butterflychurch/ministries

Monterey, CA Last Day To Have Alzheimer’s Association Donation Quadrupled

A purple background with the alzheimer 's association logo.


Tomorrow is the last day to have your donation to the Alzheimer’s Association quadrupled!  A generous donor has agreed to quadruple donations of up to $150,000 through year-end.  Regular readers of my blog know that both my father and my grandmother had this terrible disease when they died.  Please take advantage of this generous offer and speak to the kind people at the Monterey Office of Alzheimer’s Association if you have any questions at (831) 647-9890.

https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=47423&mfc_pref=T&47423.donation=form1&WT.mc_id=enews2020_12_30&utm_source=enews-aff-20&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=enews-2020-12-30&utm_content=homeoffice&utm_term=Story2