Happy Friday everyone! We need your help today…
If you’re an avid News of St. John reader (and a huge thank you to those of you who are), you probably know that each November a group of wounded veterans spend the week on St. John. During their stay here, they are treated like royalty by local businesses and they simply relax, which is much needed. It’s an awesome opportunity for the island and one of my favorite weeks of the year.
Well it obviously costs money to get these veterans here. And please let me point out that this has zero affiliation with the Wounded Warriors program; it’s actually a Team River Runner program.
So each summer, St. John holds a race called the Chaotic Kayak race. The purpose of this event is to raise the funds needed to get these incredible men and women down here for a well-deserved week of rest and relaxation. This is where I am personally asking for your help.
This year’s race happens on July 10th at Oppenheimer, and we’re trying to raise some funds prior to the event. This is where you all come in…
Thousands of people read this site every day. Again, a huge thank you for that. If every one of you donated $5 or even $1, we could raise a decent amount of cash. So that’s what I am asking you all to do today, if possible. Please donate to the News of St. John team. Please click here if you would like to donate to the News of St. John team and help with the costs of getting these wounded veterans to our island this November.
All donations are tax deductible. You will be emailed a receipt immediately after donating.
For those of you not familiar with the Chaotic Kayak race, it’s a wildly entertaining event in which teams from local businesses compete in a zany kayak race at Oppenheimer Beach. It’s not your ordinary kayak race. Teams are armed with water guns and do their best to not only beat the other teams, but soak them in the process. It’s super fun and a great event. Participating teams raise money in an effort to get a head start during the race, and all of the money raised is donated to Team River Runner, the organization that brings these wounded veterans to St. John each November.
So again, this year’s race will be held on Sunday, July 10 at Oppenheimer Beach. The race begins at noon. The public is welcome and invited to cheer along their favorite team. Food and drinks will be available.
Bravo!
What percent of funds actually goes to the expense of hosting these hero’s?
100%
when will the vets be on island?
They will be here the first week of November I believe.
Actually “100%” is incorrect as their organization takes 10% for admin costs
Actually Tony, you are incorrect. I am 100 percent certain that 100 percent of the money raised by News of St. John and the other businesses on island will go directly to The wounded veterans’ November visit. Not one cent will be taken for administrative costs.
According to their website “*ORS and Fundraising – TRR spends roughly $160,000 a year on trips. Your fundraising will help augment those costs that are sometimes hard for us to cover. Remember that whatever funds you raise TRRN gets 10% of the total
raised.”
Here’s the link: http://www.teamriverrunner.org/conference-call-notes-february-2015/
Yes, however that is not the case with this fundraiser. I spoke to the organizers today to confirm. All money raised will be used directly for their travel expenses.
Hi Tony
I am the on Island coordinator for TRR and I organize the kayak fundraiser. This fundraiser was started as TRR was not able to make thier annual visit to STJ so we decided this would never happen again. 100% of donations we receive go’s the the STJ program and our fundraiser has no cost as everything is donated, even the Oppenheimer Facility where we hold this event. We have made every attempt to eliminate costs so we can get more vets down here. For members coming to the fundraiser from the states Grande Bay donates 2 units for them to stay and a majority of the meals are comped by local businesses. When they visit in November they stay at Cinnamon Bay and every dinner is donated by a local restaurant. TRR stateside as a non profit does have a 10% administration fee the is extremely low compared to other non profits, a majority of the work is done by volunteers. Compare that to the Wounded Warrior Project where about 10 cents out of every dollar donated makes it to our veterans. Hope to see you there on July 10th!
Tom/Sadie Sea Charters
Please provide me with a mailing address. My sister recently passed and we would like to add this to a list charities that can be donated in her memory. Thanks
Thank you so much for wanting to donate. You can donate here: http://www.teamriverrunner.org/get-involved/donate/
In order to make sure your donation is earmarked for St. John, please click “Clinic – Virgin Islands – St. John” under Donation Target. It is at the very bottom.
Thank you again!
Jenn
Every charitable organization has overhead costs; a percentage of EVERY dollar raised goes to offset office supplies, insurance, salaries, etc. It’s the price of doing business. To believe that funds raised for this organization will be left untouched for overhead costs is just being naive.
If you’re seriously interested in seeing Team River Runner’s overhead percentage, apply the following formula to their IRS Form 990:
add administrative (IRS Form 990, Part IX, Line 25,Column C) and fundraising (IRS Form 990, Part IX, Line 25, Column D) costs and divide by total expenses (IRS Form 990, Part IX, Line 25, Column A).
http://www.teamriverrunner.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2014-TRR-990.pdf
Even if they do take 10%, the credit card processor takes 3 plus. Youd be hard pressed to find a charity that takes less than 10 for admin cost. Water keepers .. 24. National audubon society ..22, Amnesty international … 20, Boys and Girls club … 15, BHC foundation … 12.
Just to be clear, the monies raised in STJ are not thrown in with the rest of TRRs donations, it is held separately and has no administration fee. The amount we raise determines how many veterans can come in November.
We own a vacation home in a popular fishing area and there are a number of vet events here throughout the summer. Some are put on by a national organization, some are run by a group of local
To support Tom Larson’s response, there are individual EVENTS that are organized and put on by locals that don’t hit the national organization’s books, so to speak.
We give money to the local fly shop owner or caterer or a gas card for participants and that flows straight thru to the event and no admin fees taken by the national headquarters. Just saying that based on my experience, the 100% flow-thru does happen.
News of St John great job promoting this fund raiser and your team. My wife and I donate every year usually to a couple of our watering holes. We love how St. John comes together as “love city” to help others. I just don’t get people not taking the positive of what Tom and you guys to for these guys to come visit the amazing island.
Donation sent! Happy to help. Veterans deserve this awesome trip!