This year the National Kidney Foundation of Utah received around 30 phone calls from donors seeking their tax receipts after they donated to what they believed to be the Kidney Kars donation program.  They have all be adamant they donated to us.  In searching around, we discovered that the a car processing center in California, who has over 300 charity clients–including American Kidney Fund (in Maryland), Kidney & Urology Foundation (New York), and Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation (New York)–had been advertising using the words “Kidney Kars” “Kidney Cars” and “Kidney Foundation.”  We were devastated.  We later learned that the State of Utah Division of Consumer Protection had been after this company for two years to try and stop their operations in Utah. We implore anyone interested in donating their car to please only use the 1-800-TOW-KARS phone number or the www.towKars.org website.  When you talk to the phone operators, always ask where they are located.  If they are not in Utah–do not donate to them unless you are sure you want your money to go to that organization out of state.  Also, ask if that charity has a Better Business Bureau ranking on their webpage.  The Better Business Bureau has information about every charity in the state online, readily available for anyone to see and it should be visible from the charity’s website.  Please do not be angry with the National Kidney Foundation of Utah’s Kidney Kars program  if you accidentally donated to some other organization.  Kidney Kars has been in operation since 1988 and continues to be Utah’s #1 choice for car donation.  Please  remember 1-800-TOW-KARS (1-800-869-5277) or www.towKars.org!  Our office is in Provo, we look forward to answering your questions about how to donate a car to Kidney Kars.  Towing is free, and the donation is tax deductible.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/CutYourTaxes/10bigDeductionsTooManyPeopleMiss.aspx

Dear Kidney Foundation:  Thank you so much for the gas card to help us buy fuel to get to and from dialysis this week.  We have to make the 130 mile round trip 3 times a week.  We live in Panguich, and must drive over the mountain pass (Bear Valley, Hwy 20) to get to Cedar City–even in bad weather–because my husband simply can not miss dialysis or he will die.   We have put our home up for sale in order to move closer to the clinic, but it is very sad.  My husband was born in this very bedroom. It is a very old home, and special to us, but don’t know if anyone will even buy it.   In the meantime, we will make the drive to Cedar City, faithfully 3 times a week.  Thank you for your help and assistance in helping us get there.  Please let me know if I can do anything to help the Foundation.  I am good at making flyers and advertising, and have run a blood drive at our Church Social Hall.  Let me know if this is helpful, I want to help and return the favor to your organization.  Thank you again for your help, and concern for our wellfare.  Sincerely,   David & Connie O.

Dear Ms. Vetterli:  In the letter, you stated to ‘help lighten the burden and improve the quality of life for Utah & Idaho dialysis and tranpslant patients.’  No truer words about the Kidney Foundation have ever been spoken.  Unless you have experienced kidney failure, and dialysis, you have no idea how much the Kidney Foundation helps in every way.    For every Kidney Kar donation, for every company that donates money, for every generous donor– I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.  I wish I could personally thank each donor and tell them how much they have helped relieve the huge burden of living with k idney failiure is on me and my family.  I probably would have died 3 years ago without your help with my medications and housing.  I was giving up the struggle to stress and financial burdens I was unable to bear while I was so sick.  I stil have bad days, but I feel like I have you, and the Kidney Foundation donors helping ‘lighten my burden’ and that makes me want to keep fighting to be around for my children and for those who have been so generous.  Thank you so much.  Sincerely, Hazel G.

http://www.slate.com/id/2241530/?GT1=38001

Dear Kidney Kars, I am writing to give thanks for all you have done for me to help me stay current on my insurance premiums.  Living with kidney failure has so many aspects that need to be addressed– always when you least expect it.  Last week, I had surgery to try and place a Peritoneal Dialysis catheter so I can dialyze at home.  This has been a long process to get that to work, and when I got to dialysis on Friday, my fistula clotted, and I needed to have a fistula-gram to open it up again.  This was much unexpected– but so like kidney failure.  Thank you again for the help and burden it relieves me of.  Merry Christmas to your donors who help improve our lives with their Kidney Kars and other donations.  R. Hammon

Dear Friends of the National Kidney Foundation of Utah:  I’ve been fighting renal failure for 2 1/2 years.  I’ve had lots of testing, with the end result of having a fistula put in my left arm, and doing 3 hours of dialysis 3 times a week.  I started dialysis last December 8, 2008.  One of the ‘blessings’ of end stage renal failure is all the love and giving from friends and family, and organizations like the  Kidney Foundation!  My ‘baby’ brother, and his wife have started the process of being tested to see if they can donate a kidney to me.  Words can not express my feelings of thanks and gratitude.  I am so grateful for the generosity of others, my family and the Kidney Foundation. Thank you, thank you!  From the bottom of my “kidney.”  –B. Jackson

An essay about Kidney Kars donation in Utah by Mindy Lind. Mindy is the daughter of Roger Stratford, a past Kidney Foundation Board President and Kidney Donor.  Thanks to both Roger and Mindy for sharing this perfect essay about Kidney Kars! 

http://marzipansmind.blogspot.com/2008/12/national-kidney-foundation-loves-me.html

Automobiles » Lung and kidney groups losing donations.

By Steven Oberbeck

Updated: 08/11/2009 09:28:13 PM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Luz Lewis-Perez of the National Kidney Foundation… (Steven Oberbeck / The Salt Lake Tribune)

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The federal “cash-for-clunkers” program may be wildly popular with auto buyers, but some Utah charities that rely on vehicle donations for funding say the initiative is cutting into the number of cars and trucks they’re receiving.

The National Kidney Foundation of Utah, which gets more automobile donations than any other charity in the state, estimates the number of vehicles donated to its Kidney Kars program is down 10 percent to 15 percent since the clunkers program began.

Things are much worse at the American Lung Association in Utah. Donations are down 50 percent to 60 percent as many owners of used vehicles opt to take advantage of rebates of up to $4,500 for trading in their gas guzzlers for new fuel-efficient cars instead of making a charitable contribution.

“We’re going to need a few more weeks to really gauge the impact, but already we’re feeling the effects,” said Luz Lewis-Perez, who oversees the Kidney Kars donation program in Utah.

Standing beside an auctioneer at Brashers Auto Auction in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Lewis-Perez watched as 44 cars and trucks donated to the Kidney Foundation were sold. Although some went for a lot more and others a lot less, the average selling price was $680 — enough money for the Kidney Foundation to help several thousand Utahns receiving dialysis pay their bills while they wait for a transplant.

“Fortunately, the ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program is only temporary, while we’re in this

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for the long haul,” Lewis-Perez said.Craig Cutright of the American Lung Association in Utah said that only a few years ago, its vehicle donation program was the organization’s largest funding source.

Then the federal government changed the rules on how much of a tax deduction those who donate could take. Donations dropped off sharply.

“Now we’re having to deal with this ‘cash-for-clunkers.’ It seems as if the federal government just wants to come up with programs that will harm charities,” Cutright said.

Daniel Boroschoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, takes another view. His watchdog group monitors charities, and he thinks that although some may suffer short term, overall the clunkers program may prove beneficial.

“Some charities may very well see fewer cars donated, but that isn’t the only consideration. If this program helps stimulate the economy, then it should help those people that charities exist to serve.”

Lewis-Perez said its is easy to understand why the clunkers program is so popular.

“The government is giving out money. But we’d like to remind people who have an automobile they want to get rid of and aren’t using for the clunkers program that donating their car [to charity] is truly the best way to get rid of it.”

steve@sltrib.com

For more Political Cartoons on Cash for Clunkers visit MSNBC at:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32301112/ns/business-autos/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1&beginChapter=1&beginTab=1