Former employees tell of how charity failed vets

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A veterans charity already under scrutiny for how it raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in Tennessee handed out only a fraction of the money in the form of gift cards and threatened to fire workers if they didn't meet fund-raising quotas, former employees say.

The Veterans Support Organization of Stuart, Fla., has been criticized by other groups for how it uses donations raised outside retail stores and supermarkets. It had been fined by Tennessee for making false claims about the benefits it offered, and Connecticut lawmakers called for a federal investigation before the group's Tennessee branch closed last month.

However, former employees interviewed by the Associated Press shed new details on how the charity operated. For instance, it claimed to help veterans and non-veterans by providing them jobs, but disciplined people who didn't meet fund-raising quotas. It also claimed to provide housing and help for poor or homeless veterans, though the former workers say that amounted to little more than a rented home in Tennessee where the workers were charged $400 a month for bunk beds and plastic dressers.

VSO reported raising nearly $8.5 million nationwide during the last fiscal year, but leaders emptied its office in Madison and laid off about 20 workers the day before Thanksgiving. Charity officials declined to answer questions about the workers' claims, but provided a short statement.

The Tennessee chapter was raising tens of thousands of dollars a month at its peak, former chapter manager Kurt Jones, who was among those laid off, told the AP. However, he said, its only donations were about $400 worth of Walmart gift cards given every other month to Veterans Affairs facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Jones estimated the chapter raised almost $1.5 million in his two years as manager, but very little benefited veterans in those states.

Justin Wells, director of operations, said in a statement the charity decided to close both its chapters in Tennessee and New York to focus on launching new markets that would allow them to hire more veterans.