Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune (CT) - THURSDAY, September 5, 1996 Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: METRO CHICAGO Page: 2 Word Count: 320
Terry Wilson, Tribune Staff Writer.
Paul Hook, executive director of AIDS Walk Chicago, which has raised $6 million to help people with HIV and AIDS, said the organization has received several calls from people who said they gave solicitors in Lincoln Park $10 for a T-shirt that was supposed to be mailed to them but hadn't been.
And Hook said he has seen people soliciting outside of Lakeview businesses, another scam.
"We don't have volunteers soliciting on the street," Hook said. "It's not door-to-door fundraising."
AIDS Walk, which donates 70 cents of every dollar to help people with HIV/AIDS, has participants approach people they know for donations. This year's walk will be on Sept. 29.
"One of the things that makes it difficult is that the philanthropic dollar is getting harder and harder to find," Hook said. "We're already in a struggle to make sure that AIDS services and organizations have profitable events. That money they pocket is not going to AIDS."
Scam artists have victimized other not-for-profit organizations.
Laurie Storen, public relations manager for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Chicago, said a police officer recently caught a man telling people he was soliciting funds for the organization, although he had no affiliation with the group.
"It was difficult to prove he was keeping the money," Storen said of the man. "He said, 'I was collecting the money, but I was going to hand it over.' "
Storen said the organization encourages participants to solicit checks, instead of cash, "to protect themselves and us."
AIDS Walk officials said they have begun to press charges against people they catch.
So far, Hook said, one man has been charged with deception and impersonating a not-for-profit organization for collecting at least $270 from passersby.
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