Beware charity scams

Guest blog by Capt. George Schneider

There is a company sending mailers to Norwood residents asking for donations to Firefighters Charitable Association. This appears to be an IRS 501 C (3) organization, but the mailer is from a paid mailing company that keeps 75% of money collected, then forwards the rest to the Firefighters Charitable Association in New York. They are not endorsed or associated with any firefighters I can find. Search Firefighters Charitable Association Scam and you will get many hits. Several local police departments are looking into this organization.

After talking to Chief Goodman, Local 445, and the Norwood Firefighters Association Charity, none have ever heard of the Firefighters Charitable Association or offered any endorsement. The Norwood Firefighters Association Charity is a 501 C (3) that supports programs in our area, focusing on Norwood. They can be found at http://www.nfacharity.org/. NFA donates all earned monies back to the community; all workers are volunteers. The NFA has donated over sixty thousand to Norwood High school Scholarship foundation, yearly donations to the Norwood recreation Commission, a big screen TV to the Senior Center, WII game consoles to Children’s Hospital, replaced/repaired a stolen ramp for Norwood handicapped, and many more. The NFA has a Golf Outing 30 April, visit their web site if you are interested.

In closing, neither the Norwood Fire Department nor Norwood Firefighters has ever allowed any other organization to use our name or raise funds. If you wonder if donations are legit, please ask us by calling 458-4520.

Capt. George Schneider
Norwood Fire Department