Kars4Kids

Kars4Kids
Type Non-profit
Focus Needs of Jewish children and their families
Location
Area served
 United States and Canada
Method Personal guidance and educational resources
Revenue
 $29 million (2010)
Employees
 70
Volunteers
 25
Slogan Because kids are our future.
Website USA: http://www.kars4kids.org/
Canada: http://www.kars4kids.ca

Kars4Kids is a multinational non-profit national car donation organization based in Lakewood, New Jersey and Toronto, Canada which donates its proceeds to Oorah, an incorporated Orthodox Jewish kiruv (outreach) organization dedicated to "awakening Jewish children and their families to their heritage."[1] Kars4Kids is a United States based 501(C)3 non-profit organization.[2] A GuideStar gold medal charity,[3] it has been criticized for inadequate disclosure of its religious mission[4] and receives a 2 star ranking (out of a possible 4) from Charity Navigator.[5]

Background

Kars4Kids is a registered 501(c)3 operating in the United States and Canada, and takes donations of vehicles, accepting over 40,000 cars annually.[6]

In 2010 Kars4Kids reported revenue of $29.1 million and expenses of $31.1 million.[7]

Donations to Kars4Kids benefit the Oorah (Joy for Our Youth, or J.O.Y.), a national organization with a stated goal of addressing the "educational, material, emotional and spiritual needs of Jewish children and their families,"[8] and whose mission, according to Charity Watch, appears to be "to persuade secular Jewish families to take on a more Orthodox Jewish lifestyle."[4]

Don Imus apology

Radio talk show host Don Imus was caught mocking the Kars4Kids commercial on live radio due to a connected microphone on November 4, 2010. His comments were heard live on WABC radio in New York City on the Imus in the Morning show. On the following day, Don Imus issued an apology directly on the air.[9]

Work

The organization hosts regular coat and clothing giveaways for the needy nationwide, including in Harlem, Washington, DC, and in Newark, New Jersey where they held a give-away together with Newark Mayor Cory Booker. [10][11]

Prior to the start of the 2012 school year, the Chairman of the NYC Housing Authority in partnership with Kars4Kids distributed school supplies and backpacks to more than 3,000 children in Queens Housing projects.[12] Around that same time period with New York City Councilman James Vacca they distributed free backpacks in the Bronx as part of a "back-to-school initiative aimed at helping struggling families with the rising expenses of school supplies." [13] In Brooklyn, Congressman Ed Towns and Kars 4 Kids distributed winter jackets to underprivileged children, including at the legendary Marcy Avenue Houses. [14]

The organization saw a boom in donated cars following Hurricane Sandy, with owners donating cars totaled by hurricane damage.[15] [16]

After being contacted by the NYPD per the Moore family, the charity auctioned off a 2003 Ford Explorer in which two children drowned after being swept from their mother's arms during Hurricane Sandy. The auction proceeds went to raise money for coats for the needy.[17]

Kars 4 Kids worked with United States Representative Michael Grimm to distribute over 1,000 children’s coats and other assorted clothing items to Staten Island residents affected by the hurricane.[18]

Jingle

Kars4Kids is well known for its radio jingle,[19] described by Peter Hartlaub as an "assault on [the] senses".[20] The jingles were heard on many all news radio stations such as KYW Philadelphia, WINS New York, WNEW-FM Washington, DC, WMJX in Boston, and CFTR in Toronto. The exact history of the tune is a little fuzzy, but Wendy Kirwan, director of public relations at Kars 4 Kids, said it was written by a volunteer sometime in the late 1990s, the music adapted from a Country Yossi song, “Little Kinderlach,” whose lyrics exalt the coming of a messiah: “It’s gonna be the little kinderlach/ who’ll make Moshiach come.” [21]

In 2014, the jingle was made into a TV commercial.[22]

Disclosure concerns

The organization has been criticized for concealing its Jewish educational work.[23][24] In 2009, Joy for Our Youth paid $65,000 in fines in Pennsylvania;[25] while Kars4Kids paid $65,000 in fines in Oregon[26] in settlements reached with the respective state attorneys general as a result of their contention that the organization had to more clearly state that the beneficiaries were of a "certain religious affiliation." In Oregon, the attorney general added that Kars4Kids failed to disclose that its offer of a "free vacation" for vehicle donors was designed to recruit people to attend timeshare presentations.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Oorah.org". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  2. ↑ "Oorah.org - Tax exempt status". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. ↑ "Kars4Kids Inc". Retrieved 2016-03-23.
  4. 1 2 "Catchy Jingle Not a Green Light to Donate". Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  5. ↑ "Kars4Kids". Retrieved 2016-02-22.
  6. ↑ Insurance Undertow For Flood Car Donations | The NonProfit Times
  7. ↑ "Nonprofit Report". GuideStar USA. Retrieved 2013-02-13.
  8. ↑ "Kars4kids - About our Charity". Kars4Kids. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Don Imus apologizes for making fun of kars4kids".
  10. ↑ Kars-4-Kids Gives Away Coats in Newark; CBS; New York; retrieved March 2013.
  11. ↑ Kars...to Give-away 1000 Coats...; Goddard.org; retrieved March 2013. Archived March 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ NYCHA Chairman John Rhea, Council Member Ruben Wills & Kars4Kids Host Backpack Give-Away
  13. ↑ Kars4Kids Partners with NYC Councilman James Vacca for Back to School Backpack Giveaway
  14. ↑ Congressman Ed Towns Teams Up With Kars4Kids For A Back To School Backpack Giveaway
  15. ↑ The Yeshiva World Kars4Kids Flooded with Hurricane Sandy Car Donations « » Frum Jewish News
  16. ↑ |url=http://www.lakewoodlocal.com/2013/01/26/photos-kars4kids-flooded-with-hurricane-sandy-car-donations/ |date=20130130155305 PHOTOS: Kars4Kids Flooded with Hurricane Sandy Car Donations | LakewoodLocal Archive copy at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Kars4Kids to auction SUV that Connor and Brandon Moore were riding in before superstorm Sandy swept them to their deaths
  18. ↑ Kars 4 Kids Teams To Donate Over 1,000 Children’s Coats On Staten Island
  19. ↑ "If the 'Kars for Kids' song gives you the kreeps, you'll want to read this". Chicago Tribune. March 20, 2009.
  20. ↑ Hartlaub, Peter (February 3, 2011). "Great, now my toddler is singing 1-877-KARS-4-KIDS". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  21. ↑ "KARS 4 KIDS RAKES IN THE BUCKZ". Tablet Mag. February 10, 2015.
  22. ↑ 877kars4kids (2014-11-04), Kars4Kids Official TV Commercial (Kars for Kids Video Jingle), retrieved 2016-02-13
  23. ↑ Kars4Kids Steers Donors in the Wrong Direction; November 20, 2009 article; Daily Finance; retrieved February 2013.
  24. ↑ Answer Man: That little ditty about donating your car can drive you crazy, Bellville-News-Democrat , March 1, 2013
  25. ↑ Nonprofits for Kids Accused of Misleading Donors, January 30, 2009 article at "The Pottstown, PA Mercury"; retrieved 2/20/2013. Archived July 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  26. 1 2 Charity Misled Donors, AG Says; April 15, 2009 article at Medford, Oregon "Mail Tribune"; retrieved 2/20/2013.

External links

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