4 SEP 07: THE OTHER KIDS

OK, so one of my "Best Bets" was wrong. Jerry Lewis did NOT really choke up Monday, as he sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" to close his telethon. But Jack Rodgers didn't break down and cry on WRBL, either - not even when they showed Rodgers's old high school portrait for a 200-dollar pledge.

Jerry Lewis's fundraiser to fight muscular dystrophy is the Rose Bowl of telethons - the "granddaddy of them all," at 54 years old. Trying to collect money for some other charity on Labor Day can't be easy. But someone tried Monday night, by calling me at home after the telethon was over. For a moment, I thought MDA really was extra-close to a cure.

Yes, some telemarketers worked on Labor Day. A woman called me at about 7:15 p.m. seeking money for the "Kids Wish Foundation." The name immediately made me skeptical. It sounded too much like the famous Make-a-Wish Foundation - and besides, aren't all the needy children on Labor Day automatically Jerry's Kids?

The woman told me the Kids Wish Foundation was trying to raise money to fulfill wishes of 375 children -- and I could make a commitment of as little as 12 dollars. That wouldn't fulfill a very big wish. It might not even buy a fancy hamburger at Ruby Tuesday.

"Do you have a web site?" is a question I'm asking charity callers more and more these days. The legitimate charities are more likely to have one - but they're also more likely to have critics, who name the web sites as places deserving of massive spam.

A different telemarketer failed the "web site test" last week. He said he was looking up the site of the "American Association of Georgia State Troopers" - but then we were disconnected. It turns out there's an American Association of State Troopers, but NOT with Georgia in its name. And if the big police golf tournament has been called off, can I trust it?

But anyway: I handled Monday night's telemarketer carefully. I told her I couldn't afford to give to the Kids Wish program right now. Imagine what the desperate lottery players who failed to win the $330 million Mega Millions jackpot might have said.

A check of the Kids Wish Foundation web site later in the evening indicated it seems legitimate. It explains the foundation helps children with "life-threatening" conditions - as opposed to requiring doctors to specify a child won't survive to age 18. This makes some doctors look downright optimistic.

But while I was online, I did a Google search for "Kids Wish Foundation" - and found it's been under a cloud in recent years. A newspaper article from 2004 suggested about 90 percent of the charity's income is used for overhead and telemarketing. Simply not requiring telemarketers to work on Labor Day would save money in holiday pay.

Yet the watchdog site "Charity Navigator" offered more recent statistics, which were also a bit more friendly. The Kids Wish Foundation's income has doubled in the last three or four years. Uh-oh - mine hasn't, so I know I can't afford to give.

(I'm more likely to donate money to the church association I attend - but Charity Navigator doesn't have a rating for it. The web site claims it hasn't gotten around to checking that association yet. Thankfully, we haven't had a big ministerial sex scandal to get its attention.)

I was led to conclude the Kids Wish Foundation is a viable charity -- but it has some lousy timing, calling people only hours after the Jerry Lewis telethon. Unless, of course, it was trying to get donations on the telethon's coattails. For instance, from the people who wish Lewis would ask some Broadway star to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" on-key.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Uh-oh - do we have another urban legend here?

little birdie says that the Russell County Engineer was asked to resign last week and did.

Also, afer his resignation, the Russell County deputies were sent to his office to make sure he had left the property.

Also, maybe the Lee County Commissioner will once again be the Russell County Engineer.

"Asked to resign?" WRBL made it sound last week like Richard Gohde practically was fired. So as e-mail to this blog go, this writer is downright polite.

I don't know if Russell County sheriff's deputies have to escort fired employees out of county buildings or not. They're public buildings, after all. But maybe they were concerned the county engineer might drive away in a county bulldozer.

Why would a Lee County Commissioner be interested in becoming Russell County Engineer? Based on last Tuesday's tax votes, you'd think a Lee County School Board member would be job-hunting right now.

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