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.
My husband and I would like to say thank you for the tremendous financial grant to pay our power bill. We have been in such a financial crunch to pay all our medical bills. We are in the process of trying to lose enough weight for my husband to qualify to be on the kidney transplant waiting list. We are hoping that by October, he will be healthy enough to be eligible to be on the waiting list. We truly appreciate great organizations, like the Kidney Foundation, who help people like us in need. We are greatly in your debt, and praise God for another day. We also pray for all of those who help us with my husband’s kidney problems on a daily basis; our doctors, nurses, and dialysis technicians. Without the help and support of others, I know we could not make it. We barely survive on my income. Just know, that your help and kindness to us was deeply appreciated. We keep you in our prayers that you may continue to help others, like us, who are in need. Thanks to you, and all the Kidney Cars and other donations that make it possible for you to help us. Sincerely, R. & C. Tuttle, SLC, UT
Car shoppers have a few more days to take advantage of popular program
msnbc.com news services
updated 2:41 p.m. MT,Thurs., Aug 20, 2009
The Obama administration plans to end the popular $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program on Monday, giving car shoppers a few more days to take advantage of big government incentives.
The Transportation Department said Thursday the government will wind down the program on Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. Car buyers can receive rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 for trading in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models.
“It’s been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”
Through Thursday, auto dealers have made deals worth $1.9 billion and are on pace to exhaust the program’s $3 billion in early September. The incentives have generated more than 457,000 vehicle sales. Administration officials said they have reviewed nearly 40 percent of the transactions and have already paid out $145 million to dealers.
Administration officials said applications for rebates will not be accepted after 8 p.m. EDT Monday and dealers should not make additional sales without receiving all the necessary paperwork from their customers. Dealers will be able to resubmit rejected applications after the deadline.
President Barack Obama said in an interview Thursday that the program has been “successful beyond anybody’s imagination” but dealers were overwhelmed by the response of consumers. He pledged that dealers “will get their money.”
Dealers have complained of delays in getting reimbursed and backlogs of vehicle paperwork getting processed in the program. Dealers have said they face a risk of not being reimbursed but LaHood has pledged that dealers will get paid for the incentives.
The administration has said it has tripled the number of staffers sorting through the dealer paperwork.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Another big blow for charity organizations who count on old car donations for funding.
First it was a new tax code in 2004, then last year the economy went belly up, and now it’s the federal governments Cash for Clunkers program.
“It’s not a good program for charities,” said Luz Lewis Perez with the National Kidney Foundation of Utah. “We use these vehicles to recycle them or sell them, so we can use the money for our programs.”
According to Craig Cutright with the American Lung Association of Utah they’ve taken about a 50% hit in car donations since the program started a few weeks ago.
“It has not been good…it doesn’t seem like the federal government wants to support non profit organizations,” said Cutright.
The Cash for Clunkers program offers car owners a 4500 dollar credit towards a brand new car for their gas guzzling beat up car as long as it fits into certain requirements.
The engine is then fried and the car is sent to the salvage yard to be recycled.
Many of these clunkers would be donated to charity organizations and the owner would then get a tax credit of 500 dollars or more depending on how much it would sell for.
“It’s taking car sales away from used car dealers it’s taking car donations away from charities, and it’s taking perfectly good vehicles off the road and forcing them to be recycled,” said Perez.
But both organizations say Utahns are generally very giving and believe they will be able to pull through.
“We are hoping to just weather the storm,” said Perez.
If you would like to donate to either organization you can go to: www.kidneykars.org or www.lungutah.org
Another big blow for charity organizations who count on old car donations for funding.
First it was a new tax code in 2004, then last year the economy went belly up, and now it’s the federal governments Cash for Clunkers program.
“It’s not a good program for charities,” said Luz Lewis Perez with the National Kidney Foundation of Utah. “We use these vehicles to recycle them or sell them, so we can use the money for our programs.”
According to Craig Cutright with the American Lung Association of Utah they’ve taken about a 50% hit in car donations since the program started a few weeks ago.
“It has not been good…it doesn’t seem like the federal government wants to support non profit organizations,” said Cutright.
The Cash for Clunkers program offers car owners a 4500 dollar credit towards a brand new car for their gas guzzling beat up car as long as it fits into certain requirements.
The engine is then fried and the car is sent to the salvage yard to be recycled.
Many of these clunkers would be donated to charity organizations and the owner would then get a tax credit of 500 dollars or more depending on how much it would sell for.
“It’s taking car sales away from used car dealers it’s taking car donations away from charities, and it’s taking perfectly good vehicles off the road and forcing them to be recycled,” said Perez.
But both organizations say Utahns are generally very giving and believe they will be able to pull through.
“We are hoping to just weather the storm,” said Perez.
If you would like to donate to either organization you can go to: www.kidneykars.org or www.lungutah.org
