Sand Mountain Reporter

Marshall County’s Lodge 18 of the Fraternal Order of Police is suspending its holiday fundraising campaign following a number of complaints about its telemarketing contractor’s solicitation tactics, according to a press release by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.

F.O.P Lodge 18 conducts fundraising via telemarketing annually to raise money for children’s charities, said the statement released Wednesday.

“This year, the F.O.P contracted with a telemarketing company that utilized inappropriate tactics to raise money,” the statement said. “The company was using names of local charity organizations as well as Sheriff Scott Walls’ name without consent.”

The result is suspension of the fundraising campaign and the return of money donated. The F.O.P.’s board of directors notified Walls of its decision. The board intends to start visiting donors Monday to return their monetary gifts.

“The F.O.P Lodge 18 Marshall County regrets that this has happened,” said Walls, a member of the order, according to the Sheriff’s Office Web site. “They are a legitimate organization that raises money for local children charities each year.

“Due to the circumstances, they will be returning monies raised starting next week. The F.O.P apologizes for any inconvenience or confusion that this has caused.”

The Sheriff’s Office statement said the order is comprised of local active and retired law enforcement officers.

The Marshall County Christmas Coalition applauded the decision.

“I would like to commend the FOP for listening to the complaints of our community and acting by canceling their contract with the company they hired to raise money,” said Lee Hoggle, director of Marshall County Christmas Coalition. “The F.O.P. is a good organization and does contribute to various charities, including Christmas Coalition. We received a donation from them this week.

“The reason we felt it necessary to alert the public about the F.O.P. telemarketing campaign was because the tactics used by the telemarketers led the public to believe that the marketers had been hired to collect for Christmas Coalition.

“We do not fundraise in that manner. Christmas Coalition accomplishes its goal of providing Christmas assistance for less fortunate children by keeping the media informed of our needs.”

Share | Save | Mail | Print | Letter

Follow the Reporter on Twitter:

SMR News and
SMR Sports

Serving Albertville and the Sand Mountain region

Publisher: Ben Shurett

1603 Progress Drive
Albertville, Alabama 35950

Tel: 256-840-3000 | Email

A Southern Newspapers publication.