Open Letter

   The following is an open letter I am intending to send to a variety (and multitude) of charitable organizations, all of whom have appeared on my Dad's VISA statement and/or in his cheque book within the last two years or so.

   Dear Director of Fundraising:

   If you have received this letter it is because you are involved with a charitable organization that has been a recipient of a donation from my father, Kenneth Baker, within the last two years. It is also quite likely that you have received several donations from him over that same time frame. There is a smaller probability that you have benefited by receiving duplicate donations within less than a week.
   Over that same time frame, you are one of approximately over 30 such agencies that he has donated to. He has either written you cheques or has given you his VISA card number. Out of this number of agencies, the chances are about 90% that he has never heard of you and has no idea what sort of charitable work your agency does. He is unaware that he may have given you his VISA # and that you may have used it multiple times and are continuing to do so.

   My father is a man in his mid-eighties who has Alzheimer's. He also has a huge heart and wants to help people. Unfortunately, he has lost the ability to keep track of his donations and make appropriate decisions regarding them.
   Chances are you represent a very worthy charity and are well-known. You have likely thanked him for the recent donation and then given him an opportunity to make yet another. Possibly, you have called him on the phone and been very polite and explained to him his payment options. Then you did all of these things all over again.
   Over this time period, he has donated several thousand dollars to the group of charities of which you are a member. All because he has a big heart and a confused mind.
   Because of the state of his heart and the state of his mind, I have become involved with his financial affairs, as he is no longer capable. This is how I discovered much of the above and why I now find myself needing to deal with it. If you had pre-authorized VISA withdrawals, they have been discontinued. Your letters now all go in the garbage and I now politely turn down all your phone requests.
   At the moment, my father is gravely ill and not expected to recover. Due to your requests for his money and my father's inability to respond to them appropriately due to his Alzheimer's, his family is now unsure as to his funeral arrangements and whether there will be money to handle outstanding debts. What we are sure of is that there will be no financial legacy for his heirs, who loved (and were loved by) him.
   Thankfully, his financial legacy is of little importance to us. The legacy he will leave for us--that of the devoted, caring, and wise father, brother, son, grandfather and friend--will far outweigh all else.
   I understand your need to be able to continue your charitable works--they are of value. Singly, I suppose I have little problem with your activity. As a large group, though, you have endlessly bombarded my father in his last years with your constant requests, thank you's, and then more requests. You have done this in writing and over the phone. It is possible that you have shared his name with other agencies. In total, you have so completely inundated an elderly, confused man with your requests that he has responded in the only way that seems appropriate to him--by giving more. 
   I lay some of the blame at my own feet, for perhaps not being vigilant enough. As a family member, it is difficult to know sometimes when to step in to a loved one's financial affairs and take charge. In this case it took much persuasion and discussion on a regular basis to convince my father of the dire situation he was in. I have done this though and things are now different.

   I shudder to think of how many other seniors there are out there who may now actively be in the same straits my father was in. It is also hard knowing where to exactly lay blame in all of this. I am really speaking to all of you here, I don't believe that any of you are totally unaware that situations like this exist. I'd be interested in knowing what allowance you make for it. I suspect you have insulated yourself from others' troubles and are simply and only interested in making money.

   More than anything (especially as it is difficult to lay blame), I want you all to know what you have been a part of . You have all benefited from your constant and cajoling relationship with a well-intentioned man who had lost all capacity to to responsibly manage his finances. I only hope that whatever you have done with his money has done some good for someone somewhere. I would be happy to hear that this is the case. I am only sad that it came at the expense of a once-proud man.
   For my part, at this point I feel determined to investigate what can be done to prevent this from happening to other elderly people. I am part of the baby boomer generation, a generation that is quickly becoming prey to those who believe they need our money more than we will. This can't go on.
   I understand where you may espouse your innocence in this. However, what you have done has been systematic and calculated. All because, apparently, it works.
   Please feel free to contact me if you are in bitter disagreement with what I've said. I would be happy to discuss options for avoiding having another person's financial independence jeopardized.

Sincerely,

Brian Baker