Burn camp for kids says Florida nonprofit not collecting for them

Mary Werderitch, executive director of the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance, said a Florida-based telemarketing group is using vague language and dropping the names of local fire chiefs to get Illinois residents to donate to their cause.

But those funds aren't going toward the Alliance's burn camp, which is the only local burn camp around, Werderitch said.

"We never gave them permission to telemarket on our behalf," said Werderitch. The Illinois Fire Safety Alliance is based in Mount Pro9spect.

"Groups like this will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars and give perhaps a $100 token donation to the group they say they're raising money for," she said. "We would never accept that."

The group behind the phone calls is called the Firefighters Burn Fund Inc., a nonprofit that started in 2007 and is based in Chiefland, Fla.

According to its Website, Firefighters Burn Fund Inc. "will assist burn victims in rehabilitation, social adjustment, and motivation to facilitate mainstreaming them back into society. We will also provide funds for medical care, sustenance, medical supplies and equipment."

Ron Lagueux, a spokesman for the Firefighters Burn Fund, said his group uses local telemarketers who make the calls. He said his group calls people all over the country, including Illinois. Locally, they've raised money for a burn camp at Southern Illinois University, he said.

They tried to send a check to Werderitch's group, but it was returned, he said. Lagueux wouldn't say how much his group tried to give the Illinois Fire Safety Alliance.

"It's a moot point since they wouldn't take it," said Lagueux.

Werderitch doesn't specifically remember sending back last year's check. She did talk to someone at the group and asked them not to telemarket on her behalf.

Every few years, Werderitch hears about the group when residents or fire chiefs tell her about the phone calls.

"We don't solicit over the phone, so people shouldn't donate to someone over the phone thinking it's us," she said.

This year 85 kids from around Illinois attended the Illinois Alliance Fire Safety's "I Am Me" overnight burn victim camp which was held June 13-19 in Ingleside. It costs about $2,000 for each child to attend, but children do not pay.

The camp s run strictly on donations, which pay for food, transportation, housing and even clothing for some kids.