Shawnee resident Ray Laughlin received a call at his house during Wednesday’s memorial service from a man asking for donations to a memorial fund.
“He didn’t have himself together,” Laughlin said. “He was really groping for words and looking for a way to get his point across. He was kind of stammering around and that kind of put you on the alert.”
Laughlin said he became annoyed with the caller and terminated the call.
“I didn’t listen to him for too long,” he said. “Here it was, right in the middle of the TV coverage of the memorial service. And you know full well that anyone telling the truth wouldn’t call during that period.”
Laughlin said he wished he had listened long enough to identify the caller.
“During the bombing and tornadoes there were millions of dollars that weren’t really raised for the right funds,” he said. “I wish I had listened longer and let him talk so I could have some more out about him and maybe helped someone catch him.
“I just can’t stand people making scams off of tender moments.”
OSU issued a statement Friday, warning against possible phone solicitors.
According to the statement, “OSU wants to strongly reiterate that the OSU Foundation is not calling or writing anyone for donations in connection with the tragedy. Many people and organizations have voluntarily come forward with gifts, and the (OSU) Foundation responds to only those requests.”
Wayne King, senior vice president for development at the OSU Foundation, said an Oklahoma City-area news outlet told him of a Shawnee man who received a call for donations during Wednesday’s memorial service.
“Right now, I’ve heard of only one case,” King said. “He got a call on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. during the memorial service.
They were asking for a contribution to the memorial.” King said the OSU Foundation is not actively soliciting funds from individuals.
“We are not calling anyone,” he said. “We aren’t writing anyone, either. And we haven’t authorized anyone to call on (the OSU Foundation’s) behalf.”
King called the possibility of a scam “saddening.”
“It is disheartening to me to think that someone is trying to take advantage of a very difficult time,” King said.
According the agency’s home page, the OSU Foundation was organized in 1961 and designated as the official fund-raising agency of the university.
A nonprofit organization, the group raised more than $37 million in 1998-99 and lists assets totaling $241 million.
The OSU Foundation has established what King called “a holding account” for money donated on behalf of the victims. The account is called the OSU Men’s Basketball Fund.
“Right now we are providing a holding account for any gift in memory of one or more of the victims,” he said. “What we are trying to do right now is to be a facilitator for those who want to make gifts in honor of one or more of the crash victims.”
King said interest in both individual and corporate contributions to honor the crash victims has been widespread.
“We’ve heard from people in several different states,” he said. “We have had phone calls from people as far away as Connecticut.
“Several businesses have been calling because they are interested in setting up scholarships.”
King said the OSU Foundation is assisting anyone interested in establishing a scholarship.
“We have set some guidelines,” he said. “Say an individual wants to name a scholarship in honor of one of the people — there are several criteria, and we are helping with that.”
The criteria could include: GPA requirements, class qualifications (such as senior-only), and the specific program, King said.
Donations to the Denver Mills Memorial Fund should be made through the OSU Foundation, care of the Posse office.
The family of Pat Noyes has requested that all donations go to the OSU Men’s Basketball Fund.
Donations to the Bill Teegins Memorial Fund can be made through the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, PO Box 1146, Oklahoma City, Okla., 73101. Donations will go to the Arthritis Foundation and to a broadcast journalism scholarship through the OSU Foundation.
The address for donations to the Kendall Durfey Memorial Fund is BancFirst, PO Box 680, Tulsa, Okla., 74101-0680.
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