CNN 2012-07-31

  on an important story we've been following for months now. Trying to get answers "Keeping Them Honest."

 
We've told you about a number of supposed charities which have raised many millions of dollars but when we examined their tax filings we haven't been able to find much of any of that money going directly to the people or groups they claim to be helping 1. People like disabled veterans. 
 
One charity called the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, we found, has sent a shelter for homeless veterans thousands of bags of these. Coconut 2 M&M(美国的一种巧克力豆品牌). As absurd as it sounds, as insulting it is to common sense and most importantly to America's wounded warriors 3, there's an organization out there claiming that coconut M&Ms and other useless knickknacks are just what the disabled veterans need. According to their tax returns, this charity, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, the DVNF, has taken in, get this, $85 million in donations over the last four years. $85 million. And while we can't find much of any of that money being given directly to disabled veterans, the DVNF says they do give away what the group claims are millions of dollars in useful stuff to small veterans' charities around the country. 
 
Well, Drew Griffin has been following the money right from the start and he's been getting a lot of doors slammed in his face. However, Drew Griffin did manage to visit one of those small charities where he found some items that could help vets 4. He also found a lot of useless so-called gifts in kind(以货代款), including those coconut candy M&Ms that apparently 5 don't melt in your hand but sure leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. 
 
Roy Tidwell runs Charity Services International. A for-profit warehouse 6 and distribution center in Fort Mill, South Carolina. 
 
We already sent out to hundreds of different organizations. We sent on behalf of our charities out to these organizations. We just handle the shipping 7. 
 
Among his 50 clients are the SPCA International and the Disabled Veterans National Foundation. One supposedly helping pets. The other vets. And both as we previously 8 reported taking in millions in donations while giving out almost nothing in cash. What they do give away is stuff. Like this stuff J.D. Simpson showed us. The Disabled Veterans National Foundation sent his homeless veterans shelter in Alabama. He got hundreds of pairs of shiny Navy dress shoes. Some emergency blankets. Some broken furniture. And lots and lots of coconut M&Ms. 
 
Didn't have a lot of use for 11,520 bags of coconut M&Ms. 
 
U.S. Vets, a charity in Prescott, Arizona, got an even stranger shipment from DVNF. Chefs coats. And football pants. 
 
Makes a real … 
 
Roy Tidwell says he arranged the shipments and insists both of these charities knew what he was sending and they wanted it. 
 
The group that got the chefs coat has no idea why they got chefs coat. Zero idea. And football pants? 
 
Well, they got them because … 
 
You think there's a homeless veterans football team out there? 
 
Absolutely. 
 
You do? 
 
Absolutely. There's 300-bed … 
 
In Prescott, Arizona? What is it, a minor 9 league of homeless veterans running around playing football? 
 
I don't doubt that homeless vets play football, basketball … 
 
I'm sure you don't doubt it. 
 
Because you … 
 
But if you know I've talked to those people. They said they didn't need this stuff. 
 
They didn't need it and they shouldn't have approved the inventory 10 when they got it. It doesn't just show up.
 
Actually, according to U.S. Vets, the vets group out in Arizona, those football pants and everything else did just show up. "We did not request chefs coats, hats, football pants or anything from Charity Services International," the group tells CNN. And U.S. Vets says, "officially requested DVNF and Charity Services International not to ship to us any more gifts in kind." 
 
As for the coconut M&Ms, J.D. Simpson says he did get an e-mail that candy was on the way. He didn't think much of it. Until 11,000 bags. One-half ton of coconut M&Ms, arrived. Chef coats and football pants and coconut M&Ms may be just about worthless to a bunch of homeless vets. But to the charities that sent them, they have real value. A value that seems incredibly inflated 11 when they are written down on charity tax returns. 
 
Take the SPCA International. A group that's raised $27 million to supposedly help soldiers and their pets. The group's manager wouldn't tell us anything about the money. 
 
No, I'm not going to reveal that, none of it, I can't answer any of your questions right now. Believe me, I would love to. 
 
But on its tax returns, we did learn about a certain shipment of animal medicines the SPCA International donated to an animal welfare group in Nepal. CNN was provided with the invoice 12. It shows an itemized list of drugs that the charity values at $816,000. A huge gift in kind. But when the gift arrived in Nepal, the charity receiving the drugs valued them for customs purposes at a mere 13 $2500.