2 Christmas scandals in one day?!

This morning we shared the story that we may have been scammed when giving out our Christmas Wish to one person in Nashville.

The person who got the wish, claimed to be out of work.  They also said their spouse was hurt terribly in an accident and couldn't work.  We gave them money to buy gifts for their kids.

People heard their story and reached out to this family to help.  They offered jobs, money, and their prayers.  One kind listener started a dialogue with the woman.  The woman told her that they needed more money for all their problems.  She ended up giving her around $1,000.

One of the reasons she gave the money... and this is where our reputations were trashed... the Wish recipient told the good Samaritan that The River wasn't going to give her any money until after New Year's.  That is FALSE!!  All the money was given out to every person with a wish before Christmas.  In fact, just in case the office had any delays, we went out and purchased Visa gift cards with our own money so no one had to wait too close to Christmas to get the money.  The company reimbursed us later.

The generous listener grew suspicious.  The person accepting the money would not let them come to their house. They always met in a neutral location. Doing some checking, they discovered that this person did have a job. Their spouse wasn't hurt as badly as described and was working as well.

This ticks us off to no end.  They may have in fact really needed the money. But they may have lied to us, other people who gave them money, and to you our listeners to get it.  Someone else didn't get their wish, because we gave the money to her.  That's sad.

People have suggested we do background checks,  But that's simply not possible.  It's expensive. Money spent on checks is money not going to people who need it. It's also time consuming, and goes against the spirit of the Christmas Wish.

-Woody, Jim, and R!ley

 And check this story out about the 8 yr old girl stealing presents from neighbor's porches.