@jcboy,
Unfortunately, in my experience, that kind of thing is all too common. When i worked in the charity industry, i developed respect only for Catholic Social Services, Lutheran Social Services, and individual congregations, especially the Lutherans. They weren't blowing their respective horns, they were helping people, and they weren't trying to pick your pocket to do it. There were also individuals who made a difference. There was a Catholic church nearby which provided hot lunches to literally thousands of people a day--and they operated completely with volunteer labor, all of the organizing done by the priest who succeeded the priest who had started the effort. All of the food used came from the Central Ohio Food Bank, or was directly donated. There was one other guy, a balls-to-wall lunatic fundamentalist preacher who ran Faith Mission in Columbus, Ohio, at that time the largest homeless shelter for men in Columbus, and probably the most dangerous. Nevertheless, he sheltered hundreds of men each night, and fed two meals a day to thousands of people. His entire operation was supported by direct donations, and he was there among the drunks and the drug addicts and the petty thugs on the run every day. He sure as hell wasn't getting rich off his efforts.
