“Gift a Vet” Charity Under Fire – Declines To Provide Proof It Helped Anyone

According to a recent investigative report from NBC Bay Area, The charity, Gift A Vet, has been soliciting and accepting donations which according to one of the groups co-founder, Fallean Mintz, all the donations are going directly to support Veterans.  A hidden camera used as part of the news’ investigation recorded a man named Bob, who was collecting donations, mention on the camera that he keeps 40% of what he collects. The group’s other co-founder is Dorothy Arndt, wife of Fallean Mintz.

On camera, Mintz claims that they collect up to $300 per [collection] box on the weekends and made multiple claims that Gift A Vet helps a Homeless Veterans Recovery Program in Santa Clara County and that they help veterans at the county court, both of which could not be substantiated by the NBC Bay Area investigative team. According to the news report, the Homeless Veterans Recovery Program does not exist and a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Veteran’s Court said “The Court does not nor has ever had any relationship of any kind with Gift a Vet or Fallean Mintz/Dorothy Arndt.”

While Mintz claims to have worked for the Department of Defense (DoD) in the past, the DoD told NBC Bay Area that they had no record of him working for the DoD.  When NBC Bay Area tried to ask Mintz about his claims and the work of Gift A Vet, he walked away from their cameras and later declined to provide any documents or proof that Gift a Vet has helped anyone.

A search on Charity Navigator yielded no results for the group “Gift A Vet”, but they do have a facebook page located at https://www.facebook.com/giftavet.

Read the full article on NBC Bay Area