Nancy Young wrote:
> "Damsel in dis Dress" > wrote in message
> news >
> > We signed up with both the national and state lists. The only
soliciting
> > phone call we have received was from the local fire department.
>
> Carol, avoid that like the plague. Don't go there. If you want to
> contribute, do it directly. It's usually a scam, and not by the
> fire department.


I second Nancy's caution about phone solicitations from the fire dept
and add the police dept. I was called to contribute to the local
police athletic league (or some other PD cause), and later discovered
that the callers were professional fund raisers who took at least 85%
of the donation as their fee. The first year they called, I thought
the caller was a police officer donating a lot of personal time to the
cause and made a big contribution. Some time later the newspaper ran an
expose of the practice, apparently pretty widespread. The next year
when I was called I confronted the caller. No more solicitations.
Mac