Why did I embark on this journey to help the poor? Growing up, through moments of significant pain and shame brought on by poverty—times when we had little or no food, times when the electric was turned off, and out of that, the biggest pain was watching the woman I loved so dearly—my mother—crying, holding onto her, trying to console her. There I was, just a little boy with this small physical stature, but feeling that I was giving these big hugs to this pillar of a woman whom I loved so much and still do. My mother was and is a very strong woman. She is 86 years old and has a heart of gold. I used to wonder in my little, innocent world, why no one was helping my Mom. Occasionally, a relative would bring over a box of food. Most of the time the help came from my mother herself—getting it together, going out and getting a job and fending for her family. It wasn’t always like this, but these are the moments that sparked my drive and giving for others. I used to think, "Why is no one helping this dear woman that I love?" When I grew up, I found out that most people didn’t know, or primarily didn’t care. The reason they didn’t know, is because of my Mom’s pride in not wanting to disclose the problems that we had at home that caused us to be poverty stricken. If some did know, I found out that people didn’t care enough to help. That’s when I made a vow to God to work very, very hard, never forget my roots, and to help out as many people as I possibly can.
I remember when I first became financially successful; I started giving to several different organizations. One day, my friend and tax attorney said to me, "If you are going to give; give wisely. Get their financial statements." I said, "What for? I’ve read about them. They all have good causes." He told me, "Sal, get their financial statements; it will show how much money actually reaches the poor." When I got the financial statements, I was shocked and saddened. Most of them had 80-90% overhead, leaving little left over to help their advertised cause. Some had second offices in Canada, Hawaii and office fronts just to bring the money in. Going down to the city of Chicago, there was one of those charities that really described how they helped the elderly. I got there in January, and their front door was locked. The very small office was closed. There was a group of elderly people out on the sidewalk freezing. I said, "What is going on? Why isn’t anyone here to help?" They said, "There is never anybody here." I said, "Well, what are you doing here?" And they said, "Hoping someone might show up." I proceeded to get all the elderly hotel rooms for that night and even paid for them to be able to stay for a week or two. I came back several times over the next few weeks, to no avail. It was just locked. I finally contacted somebody on the phone and they started telling me all these grandiose things that they do for the elderly. I proceeded to tell them I was there several times and the doors were always locked. The elderly people were out front and there was no help being offered. To make a long story short, it was one of those fraudulent organizations that collect the money and kept nearly all of it. I was devastated. I thought, "How could anyone use poverty stricken people, especially helpless elderly, to deceive innocent people into contributing to their organization? They were so cruel to steal money from good hearted people that wanted to help. After reviewing my other financial statements, it turned out to be that nearly all the organizations were utilizing most of the monies themselves.
At that time, I decided that I was going to start my own organization and make sure that every penny that came in went to help the poverty-stricken children and elderly. I wanted to focus on the children and elderly, because they are the most helpless. They really cannot fend for themselves--especially the children that are born into poverty. In many cases, the elderly are brought into poverty due to the fact that they cannot afford the so-called luxuries of rent, utilities and food. They usually end up in the street or in a run-down apartment with no heat or food.
To view more 'Sal's Story' pages, please click the numbered links below.
Go to Page [pg. 2] [pg. 3] [pg. 4] [pg. 5] [pg. 6] of Sal's story.
