CHREE

FAQS

1:   What does CHREE  stand for?

CHREE is an acronym and a nickname which stands for Corporation for Humanitarian Relief and Economic Empowerment. It is a nonprofit organization for charity and education, that qualifies to receive deductible donations and contributions from individuals or organizations for charitable causes.

2:  What  is the nature of Humanitarian Relief CHREE is involved in?

CHREE  responds to serious and immediate  causes of and threat to human life.  We are all too aware of many unpredictable natural as well as man-made disasters which often result in loss of lives and human misery for the surviving victims. Disasters such as the recent hurricanes in the gulf coast of the US, the tsunami deluge and the unforgettable inferno of September 11, 2001 displaced untold numbers of surviving victims living them homeless and without the basic human needs.

Humanitarian relief is an outward expression of human solidarity with and a moral response to victims of disasters who are in need. Humanitarian relief steps in to dissipate fear and despair by bringing hope and material necessities: shelter where there is homelessness, food where there is hunger, clothing to conceal human nakedness, medical care to the injured and sick, and to comfort those in grief for the loss of their loved ones.

Humanitarian relief is free to its recipients as it is rooted in the spirit of sharing what we have for our livelihood with those who have little or nothing. There are other disasters, unlike Nine Eleven, Tsunami or the most recent Gulf Coast hurricanes which came and went in blitzes of a few devastating hours or days. These disasters leave enduring human inflictions for a long while. On a different scale of human inflictions there is the HIV/AIDS epidemic now in its third decade since its onset which kills more people in one year than did all the other world disasters combined since it was first identified. It has compounded the global efforts on eradication of poverty by decimating the most economically productive and socially dynamic segment of populations between the ages of 15 to 49 years. The crisis has reached epidemic proportion in Eastern and Southern African countries, on the continent which today is home to more than two thirds of the world's total number of HIV/AIDS victims. For a more detailed assesment of this problem please click here. Deaths and the accompanying morbidity of the disease leave behind economic ravages, engulfing the children, the elderly and the disabled in hopelessness and destitution . CHREE 's mission in this regard is to increase awareness of the HIV/AIDS crisis at the very personal level and to articulate ways individual and institutional donations can be delivered effectively to the orphanages and other at-risk children of the crisis countries of Eastern and Southern Africa.

3:   What is Economic Empowerment all about?

This includes provision of tools and facilities for vocational training centers where armies of semi illiterate youth, constituting the majority of the labor force in most poor countries ,can acquire economic survival skills such as carpentry, electrical wiring, brick laying basic cookery sewing, and so on. The corporation will also design other programs in small business training, startup assistance, referral services, field consulting, business environment analysis, walk-in services, the creation of business plans, and microfinance.

Whether helping a potential client launch a new business or strengthening the capabilities of micro-entrepreneurs already operating, the primary issue is empowerment of the disadvantaged groups by giving them what they lacked because of social injustices or missed educational opportunities . The ultimate goal is to develop self-reliance among those who previously had no business training or access to credit.

Several problems plague  the informal economies of poor nations. For many, the primary one is a lack of jobs in the formal sector and dearth of financial management skills; so the corporation helps them by training in simple accounting systems and basic profit and loss analysis. Secondary problem with the informal sector of the economy is the marketing and pricing of the products. The corporation will help empower these small enterprises with global market information and assist in establishing universal access to information through community electronic information bulletins accessible to both rural and urban poor communities.

The empowerment program will be driven primarily by funding from multi-lateral donor agencies such as the World Bank, African Development Bank, and the UNDP, and bilateral donors including the USAID and the British DFID which earmark funding for implementation of empowerment programs from time to time involving non-governmental organizations as implementing agencies that work closely with local communities or beneficiary groups.

 The members of the corporation have many years of dealing with the international donor community and have come to the obvious conclusion that channeling grant funds for humanitarian relief and economic development requires expertise which many charitable organizations do not have.  CHREE is the answer to this constraint in human resources.

. 4:   How does CHREE plan to procure human, financial and material resources it needs to carry out its mission of charity?

 As a non-profit organization which views itself as a conduit of charitable giving, CHREE maintains a dual partnership in its mission: a) it works closely with like minded grass-root organizations who work with marginalized groups and collaborate in needs assessments and articulation of strategies for delivery of aid and material relief; b) it solicits donations of money, or other in-kind materials from informed individual and institutional donors from here in the US and beyond. CHREE, as the conduit for donations, plans and executes all the arrangements needed for effective delivery of relief and aid.

 5:  What is the significance for CHREE, a charitable organization to have the IRS letter of determination for its tax-exempt status?

 CHREE was incorporated as a non-profit corporation, the first step in becoming a legal umbrella organization for operating as a charitable organization; and in order to carry out its stated mission effectively, it needed to obtain a form of governmental recognition which is widely accepted by and beneficial to the donors. The determination letter which was issued by the IRS in June 2005 is such an important recognition and as such it confers tax-exempt benefits to individuals and organizations who channel their charitable giving through CHREE.

 6:  Can you give one or two examples to illustrate how this tax deductibility of charitable donation works in the annual tax returns?

Sure.   Example 1:

 A couple who file jointly, say Danny and Daisy Dole, have a long tradition of donating money to various charities. This time, even though they had a bumper harvest from their hillside vineyard, they were low on cash at the end of the year. They decided to donate their old Yamaha piano in lieu of cash to remain faithful to and in good standing with charitable causes. CHREE- the recipient charitable organization took the piano to a local auction mart where it sold for $ 1,500. The Doles claimed this donation in the amount of $ 1,500 by filling form 8283 of the IRS which was signed by an authorized officer of CHREE.

 Example 2:

 Randy attends a fund raising event organized by CHREE to benefit the victims of a catastrophic flooding which displaced thousands of residents in several regions of Ceylon- an island nation in the Indian ocean. Randy paid $ 800 for an art item in an auction for the event; this item was originally purchased from an art gallery for $ 300. Randy's donation in this event would be what he paid in excess of the fair market value of the art work he just acquired from this auction. In this case Randy is able to take a tax deduction for $ 500- the difference between his cash payment and the fair market value of his new possession.

 7:  If I choose to make donations to CHREE in small amounts on a periodic basis, how do I claim these donations in my tax returns?

There are two ways you can claim your donations as tax deductions: a) for donations of less than $ 250, you will need to retain some documentary evidence for each donation, and at the end of the year CHREE, as your qualified charitable organization will issue an acknowledgement of receipts showing the cumulative amounts which you will enclose with your tax returns; b) if your donations are in excess of $ 250 CHREE as your qualified charitable organization will issue an acknowledgement receipt for either each donation made in excess of $ 250, or one acknowledgement document for the cumulative total donations for the calendar year.

 8:  I would like to make donations to help the orphanages that are caring for the street children in several African countries, but I am not sure if my donations will be tax deductible since the beneficiaries are not in the US.

Although direct donations to recepients outside the US are normally not eligible for tax deductions, your donations through a US registered nonprofit organization such as CHREE are tax deductible, and the IRS honors a written acknowledgement of receipt from CHREE as evidence of your donations.

 CHREE encourages potential donors to seek professional advice from your tax advisors during the year of your donations.