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.

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 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

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

“We were all moved to witness such an act of faith and kindness by Charley’s franchisee, Marcus Gilbert, who donated his kidney to save the life of a 16-year-old employee, Juan Delgado,” shares James Pa, Senior Director of Marketing for Charley’s. “Partnering with the National Kidney Foundation was a simple extension of Charley’s commitment to strengthening our neighbors.”

Juan’s battle with end-stage kidney disease began three years ago. Juggling school and mounting health problems, Juan had difficulty finding and holding on to a job. In March 2008, Marcus stepped forward and offered him a position at Charleys in University Mall in Orem, Utah, but his giving didn’t stop there. Marcus donated his kidney to Juan this past fall.

“There are more than 100,000 Americans currently on the national waiting list for organ transplants,” says John Davis, National Kidney Foundation CEO. “Partnerships, like the one NKF shares with Charley’s Grilled Subs, help support our efforts to educate the public about the life-saving power of organ donation and provide support to organ donors and their families.”

Taking the lead from one of its franchise owners who gave the gift of life to an employee, Charley’s Grilled Subs® will give their own gift this month to further the National Kidney Foundation’s (NKF) life-saving work.  

Throughout Philly CheeseSteak Month, celebrated in January, Charley’s will donate a portion of each sandwich sold  to support the NKF’s work in research, patient services, public and professional education, advocacy and organ donation.

 For more information, visit www.Charleys.com   and click on Eat a CheeseSteak…Save a Life.

About the National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is dedicated to preventing and treating kidney and urinary tract diseases, improving the health and well being of individuals and families affected by these diseases and increasing availability of all organs for transplantation. To learn more about kidney disease, risk factors and organ donation contact the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org or (800)622-9010.

For video instruction about how to donate your old car to the National Kidney Foundation of Utah’s Kidney Kars Donation program please visit us at Expertvillage.com :

http://www.expertvillage.com/video/164945_donate-car-kidney-foundation.htm

IRS gives tips for larger tax refunds

A link to this article :   http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/293981/

Donate your car after a charity check

‘Tis the season to be charitable. For some people, that means donating a vehicle. You can donate your car through a local chapter of the National Kidney Foundation and others, or a charity that specializes in car donations and will pick up cars, sell them at auction, and give a charity some of the proceeds.

We’ve heard such groups touted in radio ads, and search engines yield plenty of names, but our research indicates donors should be careful. None of three car-donation Web sites we looked into had a privacy policy, and two lacked complete contact information. Often the charity gets 5 percent or less of the car’s claimed value, according to a 2003 survey by the Government Accountability Office. Before you donate your car, ask :

Is the charity IRS-approved?

Ask the charity whether it’s qualified to receive tax-deductible contributions. Most approved charities are listed online in IRS Publication 78 (www.irs.gov/app/pub-78).

How will the car be used?

The IRS says a donated car worth more than $500 that’s kept in use by the charity—bringing meals to seniors, for instance—can be deducted at its current fair market value. But if it’s sold at auction by the charity, you can deduct only the auction price. If the charity takes cars that can’t be driven, the donation might be worth no more than a lug nut.

How much money will the charity get from a third-party arrangement?

Ask the charity’s development office. Look for a share of at least 15 percent.

How much will the charity use for good deeds?

The Better Business Bureau recommends giving to charities that devote at least 65 percent of donations to good works. The BBB’s National Charity Reports Index (www.bbb.org/charity) rates charities on 20 standards. Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) has information, too. Both services are free.

After you donate your car, record the name and address of the charity and the date of your donation. Get a receipt. Keep a copy of the title transfer. Report the transfer to your state motor-vehicle department and cancel your car insurance.

Remove the vehicle’s license plates—unless state law says otherwise—and the registration and inspection stickers. That way, you won’t be sideswiped by a later owner’s violations.

Here are links to ExpertVillage.com that instruct donors how to doante their car to the Kidney Foundation:

 hhttp://www.expertvillage.com/video/164941_donate-car-utah.htmttp://www.expertvillage.com/video/164945_donate-car-kidney-foundation.htm

 (In letter to all Kidney Foundation of Utah employees sent Friday, November 21, 2008):

I would like to remind you why we all work here.  We just received a call from the mother of a kidney patient who was evicted from her home a few months ago. She has a 2 yr. old son on a ventilator and on dialysis. She is now homeless and has been living in her car. Pam Grant, the pediatric social worker at the U, called and asked if we could make an emergency financial grant to get her in an apartment NOW. Thanks to the many donations we receive thorugh Kidney Kars and generous cash contributions, we were easily able to grant that request.  I just received a thank you call from that child’s mother.  Overwhelmed, she spoke in words broken up by tears of gratitude. Thank you all for making this kind of wonderful thing happen.  Sincereley, Deen Vetterli, CEO, National Kidney Foundation of Utah & Idaho