>Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 13:13:06 -0800
>From: Greg Willis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>X-Accept-Language: en
>To: Allan Balliett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: Demeter Non-Profit - Not!
>
>Dear Allan and All Listmembers,
>
>On Saturday, I received in the mail a copy of "THE VOICE OF
>DEMETER", ISSUE NO. 15, WINTER 2002. On the back cover is a plea
>for money under the title "BECOME A FRIEND".
>
>I direct your attention to the opening statement, which says, and I quote:
>
>"Become a friend of Demeter and join the circle of supporting
>members. The Demeter Association, Inc. is a national, independent,
>non-profit, corporation . . ."
>
>Wait just a minute. "Non-profit"? I have a letter in my possession
>on Demeter letterhead, written and signed by Anne Mendenhall
>explaining to me that I could neither ask for nor receive copies of
>Demeter's 990 IRS filings because Demeter Association, Inc. not
>registered by the IRS as a "401(c)(3)" non-profit corporation.
>
>So here's the dirty little secret that they don't tell unsuspecting
>people who contribute money to their organization. Demeter
>Association, Inc. was incorporated in Massachusetts as a corporation
>that intended to become a non-profit organization. According to the
>officials with whom I spoke in the department of the Secretary of
>State in Massachusetts, Demeter Association, Inc. never applied for
>tax exempt non-profit status in Massachusetts. When I inquired
>whether or not they enjoyed tax exempt status in the State of New
>York where their offices are located, again I was told that they do
>not have tax exempt non-profit status. And, when I checked with the
>IRS, they told me that Demeter does not have federal tax exempt
>non-profit status either. That would be 401(c)(3) designation.
>
>Well. Isn't this interesting?
>
>I would recommend that anyone who becomes a "Friend of Demeter"
>demand a copy of the IRS papers granting the company current federal
>tax exempt non-profit status or the contributor can't deduct it on
>their personal or company income tax. Then I'd make some serious
>inquiries with Demeter and the BDA since them support Demeter
>financially.
>
><SCREAM!>
>
>Am I the only one in the whole damn UNIVERSE who cares that Anne
>Mendenhall and Demeter look like they're running a scam?
>
>Is there anyone out there who cares that it looks like they're
>committing fraud in the name of biodynamics and Rudolf Steiner?
>
>Are the people on this list so frickin' apathetic that they don't
>give a crap that when Demeter does something that has all the
>appearances of being fraudulent and unethical, it smears anyone and
>everyone who calls what they do "biodynamic"?
>
>I'd like to know where the BDA stands on this. Let's see the proof,
>Anne. Let's see the proof, Chuck. If you've got it, so be it. If
>you don't, you should tell your members, subscribers and those whom
>you certify that you lied.
>
>How about it all you Demeter/Aurora Organic certified farmers,
>winemakers,breadmakers, vegetable growers, coffee growers,
>herbalists, flower growers and vineyard owners? Ask Mendenhall for
>proof. Put it up on the web. Let everyone see it. Prove me wrong.
>
>NO ONE IS "NON-PROFIT" UNLESS THEY ARE GRANTED THAT STATUS BY THE
>IRS AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE STATE IN WHICH THEY OPERATE.
>Period. Anything else is fraud.
>
>I, for one, am appalled, but not surprised.
>
>Greg Willis
