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I encountered Brides Across America, a 503(c) organization, back in 2014, where I initiated contact with founder (Heidi Janson) re: the donation of new wedding gowns to be distributed to military and first-responder brides at no cost to the brides themselves. To date, I have wholly-donated over 120+ new, couture gowns, accessories, and other wedding-specific goods to Brides Across America under the auspices that these items were being given ... at no cost to the bride ... to military & first-responder brides as indicated to me via email as well as via the "mission" on their website, www.bridesacrossamercia.org. Within the last few weeks, I have determined that many (if not all) of the gowns I had been donating under the premise they were being given directly to BAA-eligible brides, only to find out they were being sold (for profit) in an "Outlet" arm of Heidi Janson's own bridal salon, Tulle Bridal, whereby these gowns were tagged with "a PORTION of the proceeds from the sale of this gown benefit Brides Across America". Not only should 100% of the proceeds be given to BAA, with Tulle capturing none of the proceeds given the wholly-donated status (thereby committing both charity AND tax fraud), not one time was I ever told, and the BAA site never once mentions, that donated gowns are sold to the public (non-military brides) to infuse cash into the Foundation. This is misrepresentation of the BAA organization with respect to in-kind donations (and, possibly, cash donations), but also "fraud by omission" in that I was never told the new gowns I was sending were being used for anything other than offering new gowns to deserving women who help protect our borders without expectation of such a gift. Emotions aside, and that is difficult to do given all of the money I have spent (upwards of $50, 000 of my own money & I am just an individual with a good heart, not wealthy, just "giving back") on gowns, only to see a Yelp! review where a woman bought what HAD to be a Vera Wang gown from the "Tulle Bridal Outlet" for $799...a brand new gown I'd been able to procure from a seller for $750 if only because I unwittingly lied to the seller, indicating it would be given ... for free ... to a military bride.
I would like to have this Foundation investigated for omission of information to its donors about the disposition of in-kind donations AND for tax-fraud for the profit made from wholly-donated items that they accepted on a non-profit status. Ideally, I would like to see BAA stripped of it's 503(c) status or, minimally, suspended until they get the affairs of their for-profit and non-profit business separated & in order.
