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Salvation Army challenges Greenpeace for charitable donation

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 5:07 PM on 13 Mar 2007

 

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Greenpeace and the Salvation Army are hashing out a dispute over tens of

millions of dollars today at a mediating table in Seattle, in a story more

peculiar than we could make up.

 

Last July, H. Guy Di Stefano, 90, a resident of Issaquah, Wash., passed away,

leaving about $264 million to be divided equally between eight charitable

organizations in his last will and testament. Among them was " Greenpeace

International, " which in 2005 was absorbed into the Greenpeace Fund. Now, the

western division of fellow beneficiary the Salvation Army is challenging

Greenpeace's claim to the cash, arguing that it isn't exactly the same

organization, and that a mere affiliate shouldn't be able to take home the $33

million in question.

 

The Salvation Army argues that Greenpeace's chunk of the change should be split

among the other seven charities -- the Salvation Army, Direct Relief

International, the Santa Barbara Hospice Foundation, the Santa Barbara Visiting

Nurse Association, the American Humane Society, the Disabled American Veterans

Charitable Service Trust, and the World Wildlife Fund.

 

The Di Stefano family lived a quiet, modest life in Issaquah, where neighbors

had little idea that they were worth that much dough. Guy Di Stefano had owned a

jewelry store in California, and his wife Doris's father, a United Parcel

Service employee, had passed his stock in the company on to his daughter, asking

her never to sell it. When she passed away in 2005 at the age of 90, the stock

-- worth a big chunk of change -- transferred to her husband, who then outlined

in his will which charities he wanted the money to go to.

 

 

The question about Greenpeace's name came to light when Bank of America, the

trustee for Di Stefano's estate, filed a petition in Washington state court

inquiring as to what it should do about the fact that Greenpeace International

no longer technically exists. Representatives of the bank have said that they

only sought clarification, not to deprive Greenpeace of the money, but the

bank's petition prompted the Salvation Army to challenge disbursement.

 

The parties are meeting with a mediator today as per Washington state law, in an

attempt to avoid sending the matter to court. The story was covered in the New

York Times last month, but has gotten relatively little attention outside of

philanthropy blogs.

 

" The strongest argument is that it all comes down to donor intent, " said John

Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace, who was in Seattle today for

the mediation. He contends that Di Stefano's intent was clear: he wanted to

bequeath part of his estate to Greenpeace. " It should be honored. "

 

Michael Woodruff, the general counsel for the Salvation Army's Western

Territory, takes a different view. ''The donor's intent was specific,'' he told

the New York Times in February. ''If a corporation or charity named in the trust

does not qualify, that gift lapses, and he specifically named Greenpeace

International.''

 

According to the Times piece, Greenpeace Fund is the " successor-in-interest " for

Greenpeace International:

 

Greenpeace has several different nonprofit incarnations. Greenpeace

International was created in 1978, Mr. Wetterer said, and Greenpeace Fund was

created in 1980. They shared the same central phone number and offices in

Washington, D.C., and many employees. During an I.R.S. audit that affirmed the

organization's tax-exempt status, an auditor suggested that Greenpeace reduce

the number of its units.

In response, it dissolved Greenpeace International in December 2005. That

organization's board named the Greenpeace Fund as its successor-in-interest,

" recognizing that from time to time, charitable gifts could still come in to

Greenpeace International Inc., " Passacantando told theTimes.

 

Meanwhile, it's unclear whether the money would even go to the Western Territory

division of the Salvation Army, since the will names " The Salvation Army & its

Components " and lists its location as New York, which under the Salvation Army's

policies means the money would go to the Eastern Territory, headquartered in New

York. The Western region is claiming that it should get all $33 million because

Di Stefano lived in Washington state -- plus the roughly $4 million the

Salvation Army would get if Greenpeace's slice were divvied up.

 

" I'm astonished that Greenpeace even has to be in this, " Passacantando told

Grist. " There are even people in other parts of the Salvation Army that I've

talked to who were shocked to learn that the Salvation Army would attempt this. "

 

The Di Stefanos' gift was the fifth-most-generous charitable contribution in the

U.S. in 2006, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, totaling $264 million.

And the $33 million is the largest single donation Greenpeace has ever received

-- that is, if the group actually gets it.

 

" First you get the best news of all time, and then you get the most bizarre news

of all time, " Passacantando told Grist.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the Salvation Army's address

 

The Salvation Army National Headquarters

615 Slaters Lane

P.O. Box 269

Alexandria, VA 22313

 

 

 

 

 

More contact information for the paper-challenged

 

The Salvation Army US national headquarters can be contacted at:

(703) 684 5500

SA_Information

 

 

 

" Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies

in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are

cold and are not clothed. "

-- Dwight Eisenhower