It’s not tax deductible, and who cares?

tags: Cassie Cox, David Osmond, LDS Church, Mountain America Credit Union, Nathan Osmond, Olive Osmond, uplej

Late last week uPlej was faced with an opportunity to help an “Angel”, Cassie Cox. We were informed of her fight with Cancer and an event that was held last Saturday to raise money to pay some of her medical bills. We sat in our board room with heavy hearts trying to figure out how to help.

The Dilemma
uPlej’s mission is to help everyone and anyone we can. We were given the chance to use our uPlej service to help Cassie but it became very apparent that at this particular event we could have become a distraction instead of a help. Cassie’s Mom was interested in joining uPlej but we could not figure out a way to get the funds directly to Cassie while complying with the IRS guidelines that uPlej must adhere to.

The Rules
uPlej is not able (based on IRS guidelines) to tell a charity to allocate their donation specifically to an individual, project or anything that does not fit the “purposes” the 501 (C) 3 was licensed to do. All we can do is help a Public 501 (c) 3 raise money for their general account and what they do with that money is up to them.

So, instead of disrupting what Cassie and her parents were trying to do and try to fit the uPlej model and benefits into their event, we simply supported her by being there and donating ourselves. David Osmond donated his talent and spoke to the audience and made our small contributions to Cassie’s cause.

It’s not tax deductible
The money donated by each person at the event was not tax deductible and no one cared! They simply supported Cassie and had a great time. In fact there are many causes that we donate money for that are not tax deductible. Isn’t it great?

Getting credit for donating time or money can be very satisfying for our self esteem and personal welfare. But it’s also good to stay anonymous and not worry about you and just give to others without the worry that you will not get the credit.

Nate and David Osmond’s Grandmother, Olive Osmond once said;

“It’s amazing what we can do when we don’t care who gets the credit”

Please Give
With that said, I’d like to invite you to support Cassie. Listed below is her story and her need. Please help in any way you can. Don’t worry about the tax deduction (because it’s probably not deductible) because no amount of tax credit will ever replace how you feel inside for giving without the need for recognition!

Cassie
Cassie was diagnosed June 12, 2004 with a Juvenile Pilocytic Astrocytoma (Brain Tumor) located in an inoperable place in front of her brain stem. She is undergoing chemotherapy for the third time in four years. The doctors are trying to keep it from growing and buying time to allow her to mature before she will eventually have to undergo radiation therapy. The tumor has already affected her eyesight with some blind spots in her left field of vision. This has not deterred Cassie from her love of reading which is a favorite pastime. Cassie is a friendly, enthusiastic and energetic girl who also loves to play with her sister, her friends, pretend numerous things with her creative imagination and learn about animals.

Cassie states her dreams and aspirations are to be a missionary for the LDS Church when she is old enough, become an artist so she can make beautiful things, and a doctor in order to help other people as she has been helped because she has come to love the doctors and staff at Primary Children’s Medical Center.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Make a donation to the “Cassie Cox Cancer Fund” at any Mountain America Credit Union in Utah.

Jeff Crane @ June 24, 2008