Dave Allen responds to sheriff's wife's letter

Editor:

As noted in a letter last week, I filed a request for information with the sheriff. The response I received was that he was sending money to the National Child safety Council with no written agreement. He stated he didn’t have accounting records (as required by the state) for monies he received from Madison citizens and forwarded to the NCSC.

Last week’s writer failed to mention that I delivered two letters and the second letter is the one referenced. The second letter stated as follows:

“Dear Sheriff Weaver:

“I received your letter soliciting funds for the National Child Safety Council to which Karen and I contributed last year. We made that contribution believing we would be helping local school children; something obviously that is important to both of us. I now have serious reservations, which I feel obliged to share with you.

“Before making a contribution this year I looked into the National Child Safety Council to decide if a larger donation was in order, and what I found was disturbing. In October of 2007 H.R. Wilkinson, executive director of the National Child Safety Council, entered into a consent decree with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania whereby he agreed to refrain from further solicitation in Pennsylvania and agreed to pay Pennsylvania $150,000.

“Mr. Wilkinson apparently has a long history of questionable solicitations, as noted in a fire department support group article at Firehouse.com. I have attached a copy of that article. Additionally, the Charity Navigator rates the National Child Safety Council with one of four possible stars; compared to reputable organization such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which received four stars.

“Citizens of this county trust their government agencies, including the sheriff’s office, to deal with them in an enlightened and informed manner. They rightfully expect any organization for which you solicit funds to be absolutely impeccable in its character and reputation. Your actions in this instance clearly failed to meet that standard.

“I am asking you to contact every person, business, and organization that has donated funds to this cause and make them aware of the facts surrounding Mr. Wilkinson and the National Child Safety Council. I hope that in the future you will be more diligent in the causes you support and that you will make certain these causes are not questionable.

“I am very truly yours,”

Dave Allen
Shelby