Planet Aid

Planet Aid is a non-profit organization headquartered in Elkridge, Maryland. Its primary activity is the collection of clothing and other household items for resale and recycling. Founded in 1997 in Massachusetts,[5][6] the organization has expanded down the East Coast of the United States and operates in 23 states,[7] where it collects items through donation bins placed on sidewalks, parking lots, and other public areas.

Planet Aid, Inc.
FormationOctober 1997 (1997-10)
Founded atHolliston, Massachusetts
Type501(c)(3) NGO
04-3348171
HeadquartersElkridge, Maryland
Region
Chief Executive and Co-founder
Ester Neltrup
Board Chair and Co-founder
Mikael Norling
Affiliations
Websiteplanetaid.org

Some of the proceeds, along with U.S. government grants, are used for charitable aid in Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and other African nations.

The American Institute of Philanthropy's CharityWatch has given the organization an "F" rating, disputing Planet Aid's assessment of its charitable spending.[8][9][10][11] Investigations by media and government agencies have also found discrepancies in the stated amount of Planet Aid's charitable expenses, as well as alleged links between Planet Aid and the controversial Danish organization Tvind, whose leader, Mogens Amdi Petersen, is wanted on charges of fraud and tax evasion.[12][13] Planet Aid has denied these allegations.[14] Planet Aid is a member of the international charity group Humana People to People, an offshoot of Tvind.

History

Planet Aid is part of an international charitable organization called Humana People to People, founded in Denmark in 1977. Humana began as a door-to-door clothing collection drive aimed at helping people living under the rule of apartheid in South Africa. Planet Aid first began operating in the United States in 1997 by opening a collection center in Lawrence, Massachusetts.[6] The organization later moved to Lowell, Massachusetts in May 1998, and also opened retail locations in Malden, Waltham, and Somerville.[6][15]

In 2000, Planet Aid’s operations spread to the Washington metropolitan area by placing its yellow bins in several cities in the area.[16] By 2002, Planet Aid operated in about seven states in the US, reaching as far south as Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[17] By 2004, the organization began expanding into the mid-west by establishing operations in Pittsburg, Kansas.[18] As of 2007, the organization operated in a total of 19 states which included several cities in Upstate New York.[19] Several of the communities into which the organization had expanded and news reports on the charity’s expansion became critical of the nonprofit’s finances.[19][20]

The organization has been impacted by local ordinances that impose restrictions on the placement of collection bins. Some municipalities have proposed outright bans on all donation bins, which have sometimes impacted Planet Aid. In 2014, Planet Aid filed a lawsuit against Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, one of a number of cities that had passed a local ordinance banning charity collection boxes over concerns about litter and vandalism.[21] In April 2015, a federal appeals court upheld an earlier federal court ruling that Planet Aid's collections bins constitute a protected form of free speech and struck down a local zoning restriction in St. Johns, Michigan that had outlawed all such collection boxes, as a violation of the First Amendment protections.[22] Since winning its federal ruling, Planet Aid has sued several other cities with similar ordinances, and used the decision to induce local leaders to craft regulations that allow placement of such boxes.[13] Planet Aid's CEO Ester Neltrup told the Los Angeles Times that Planet Aid supports some regulation on clothing recycling, but opposes bans on donation boxes.[13]

On October 1, 2015, Planet Aid opened its first thrift store in Baltimore as part of a pilot project. The store employed 30 people and offered "tens of thousands of new items every week," in addition to serving as a donation center, according to The Baltimore Sun. Proceeds from purchases in the store go towards Planet Aid's sustainable development projects.[23]

Operations

Planet Aid collects used clothing through a wide network of donation bins placed on public and private property, donation centers, and curbside pickups.[24] The group has collaborated with local businesses and other organizations to place bins on their property, with an aim to make donations more convenient and thus increase recycling rates.[25] The group states that recycling used clothing and shoes contributes to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases[26] and helps in reducing the amount of waste that municipalities must haul from residences.[27] It was estimated as of 2008 that the organization collects and resells over 70 million pounds of clothing per year.[5] As of February 2016, the organization has collection bins in 23 states in the United States.[7]

Charities like Planet Aid that collect used clothing sell them both domestically and on the international market.[28] According to Planet Aid, the proceeds from resold donated clothes and recycled textiles are used to fund international development projects via organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.[24][29] However, the program does on occasion donate bedding and winter clothing from its collections to local US resident in needs.[30] As of 2015, 94% of its grant funding is directed to programs operated as part of the Humana People to People (HPP) Federation.[24]

In November 2015, the US State Department sponsored an educational visit of Planet Aid's Elkridge, Maryland headquarters for a delegation of Russian recycling experts to learn how Planet Aid sorts and handles 100 million pounds of donated textiles every year and how they can develop similar practices and infrastructure in that country.[31]

Africa

Planet Aid participates in a number of programs in Africa. Planet Aid has been operating as a charity in partnership with Development Aid from People to People in Malawi (DAPP Malawi) since 1995.[32] In 2001, Planet Aid partnered with Johnson & Johnson in aiding the fight against the spread of AIDS in Southern Africa.[5] In 2004, the organization was given a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish the Food for Progress in Mozambique. In 2012, they collaborated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the Farmers Club project, which provides school meals and teacher training in Mozambique and Malawi.[33] These programs are run through DAPP Malawi and Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (ADPP),[34][35] who, along with Planet Aid, are members of the Humana People to People Federation.[36][37]

The DAPP In-Service Teacher Training Program in Malawi, supported by Planet Aid, was awarded the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize in 2016.[38][39]

Planet Aid has also collaborated with the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health program, run by the American Soybean Association, to provide nutrition education in Mozambique.[33]

The U.S. Agency for International Development has also awarded Planet Aid 93.8 metric tons (92.3 long tons) of prepackaged food in 2011 and 112.6 metric tons (110.8 long tons) in 2012 for distribution in Zimbabwe.[33]

Charity accountability

CharityWatch disputes Planet Aid's accounting of costs associated with collecting and processing donated clothing,[40] giving them an "F" rating.[8][9][10][11] Planet Aid earned $33 million from selling used clothes in 2018. Accordingly, CharityWatch says the costs of collecting used clothes are fundraising expenses, rather than charitable program expenses as claimed by Planet Aid; hence Planet Aid spent only 25% of its budget on charitable programs in 2018, rather than the claimed 85%.[40] Planet Aid's federal tax filing from 2011 shows 28% of its budget being used for international aid programs, with the remainder mostly being spent on collecting and processing used clothes.[9]

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance (WGA) lists Planet Aid as an accredited charity,[13] stating that as of January 2020 Planet Aid fulfills its 20 standards for charity accountability.[24] Charity Navigator gave the organization a three out of four star rating with a total score of 81.62 percent in 2019.[41]

Alleged Teachers Group connections

Media and government investigations have linked Planet Aid, through its board members and financial dealings, to a controversial organization from Denmark called the Teachers Group or Tvind, led by international fugitive Mogens Amdi Petersen.[12][13][42][43] Tvind has been characterized by former members as a secular/political cult,[44] and Tvind leaders have been prosecuted in Denmark for financial crimes, with two convictions in trials in 2006 and 2009, respectively.[45][46]

Planet Aid has denied any such links,[33] although they are a member of the Humana People to People Federation,[1] an offshoot of Tvind,[47] and several leaders of Planet Aid had been identified as having ties to Tvind and Petersen. Planet Aid co-founder and board chair Mikael Norling is a Tvind official, and he was present at the preliminary hearings for the Danish Tvind trials in September 2002.[48][49][50] Planet Aid CEO Ester Neltrup was the Executive Director for the Tvind-run Institute for International Cooperation and Development,[51] and has stated that she and others on Planet Aid's board of directors were Teachers Group members.[52] Marie Lichtenberg, the director of international partnerships at Humana People to People and Planet Aid, was identified by Danish law enforcement as a manager of Tvind's global financial operations.[53] Josefin Jonsson, a founding director of Planet Aid, was also a founding director of IFAS, a foundation identified by Danish prosecutors as a front organization used by Petersen for embezzlement and tax fraud.[54]

In March 2016, an investigation co-produced by The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and the Public Radio Exchange reported that, according to interviews with "several (unnamed) insiders" of Planet Aid and associated Humana People to People member organizations, including "at least a dozen people inside" DAPP Malawi, "50% to 70% of the US government grant money was being siphoned away" to Tvind.[55]

The USDA issued a statement saying that "none of their formal compliance reviews, their ad hoc reviews, their site evaluations, or their audits of the Planet Aid projects have yielded any significant findings or concerns",[55] although documents obtained by the CIR stated that a USDA program analyst who had visited the project in Malawi was concerned that the use of funds was ineffective and lacked transparency.[56]

A follow-up report by CIR cited a 2001 report by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation that identified Planet Aid, Humana People to People, and DAPP as part of a network of organizations that diverted charitable funds for personal use by Teachers Group members.[53] In response, the United Nations Children’s Fund halted funding to these organizations.[57] An August 2016 report by the British Broadcasting Corporation, in partnership with the Center for Investigative Reporting, led the United Kingdom Department for International Development to suspend payments as well.[58][59][56]

Center for Investigative Reporting lawsuit

In 2017 Planet Aid sued The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) for libel, alleging a conspiracy to interfere with Planet Aid's business over CIR's reporting on Planet Aid’s business practices and relations with Tvind.[60][56] CIR compared the case to Bollea v. Gawker, saying it was an attempt by deep pocketed individuals to use the courts to silence a media outlet.[61]

In March 2021, the case was dismissed with prejudice.[62] The court ruled that although Reveal's publications had included 46 false allegations regarding Planet Aid and other plaintiffs, who were able to provide evidence that all funds were accounted for and used for intended projects, the plaintiffs were public figures and therefore subject to a higher standard for libel. "In sum, as to the allegedly defamatory statements for which plaintiffs have sufficiently shown falsity, plaintiffs have failed to show defendants made those statements with actual malice, and, consequently, their defamation claim is subject to dismissal."[63]

See also

References
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  2. "Global Campaign For Education United States Chapter". Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  3. "Planet Aid". Interaction. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  4. "Learn More About Planet Aid". Project Green Schools. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  5. "Planet Aid expands into Pittsburgh for clothing recycling". American Recyler. February 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  6. Wildman, David (March 19, 2000). "Ending Poverty is Ultimate Goal of Used Clothing Store". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  7. Pacella, Rachael (February 24, 2016). "Catonsville's Planet Aid thrift store off to good start in first 5 months". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  8. Weiss, Gary (June 18, 2016). "Spotting Nonprofit Accounting Tricks". Barron's. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  9. Hoyer, Meghan; O'Donnell, Jayne (December 30, 2012). "Clothing bin donations don't always reach needy". USA Today. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  10. Eng, Monica (May 5, 2011). "Clothing operations linked to controversial Danish group continue to thrive". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  11. Knezevich, Alison (December 5, 2017). "Planet Aid sues Baltimore County over collection bin ordinance". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  12. Thompson, Tisha; Yarborough, Rick; Smith, Matt; Walters, Amy; Jones, Steve; Piper, Jeff (May 24, 2016). "Behind the Bins: Former Planet Aid Employees Describe 'Cult-like' Experience". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  13. Christensen, Kim (August 13, 2015). "Good intention or public nuisance? Cities brace for a resurgence of clothing donation bins". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  14. Neltrup, Ester (May 25, 2016). "Planet Aid Letter to NBC Washington" (PDF). NBC Washington. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  15. Nicodemus, Aaron (May 27, 2001). "American Red Cross clothing: Where do they go?". The Standard-Times. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  16. Wilson, Ike (March 8, 2006). "Planet Aid boxes offer chance to help others". The Frederick News-Post. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  17. Deaver, Danielle (June 26, 2002). "Filled to the Brim". Winston Salem-Journal.
  18. Riely, Kaitlynn (January 5, 2014). "Planet Aid to distribute warm clothes to Pittsburgh-area needy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  19. Liu, Lara Becker (September 20, 2007). "Planet Aid's yellow boxes raising red flags". Democrat and Chronicle. pp. 1A, 9A. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  20. Quinlan, Linda (August 9, 2007). "Yellow collection boxes spark questions". Daily Messenger. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  21. Welch, Sherry (April 27, 2014). "Nonprofit Planet Aid Sues Ypsilanti TWP over zoning ordinance". Crains Detroit.
  22. Associated Press (April 6, 2015). "Court: St. Johns can't enforce ban on charity bins". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  23. Mirabella, Lorraine (September 29, 2015). "Planet Aid makes Baltimore site of its first retail store". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  24. "Planet Aid". give.org. BBB Wise Giving Alliance. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  25. Sidique, Shaufique F.; Lupi, Frank; Joshi, Satish V. (January 2010). "The effects of behavior and attitudes on drop-off recycling activities" (PDF). Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 54 (3): 163–170. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.07.012. ISSN 0921-3449. S2CID 16023051.
  26. Whitehead, Shannon (November 4, 2014). "Should I put my old clothes in those bins?". dirt Magazine. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  27. Chapman, Will (July 15, 2014). "Drop-off recycling might be way to save tax dollars". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  28. Cline, Elizabeth L. (June 18, 2012). "The Afterlife of Cheap Clothes". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  29. "Planet Aid - Charity Navigator Rating". Charity Navigator. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  30. Thompson, Elaine (November 15, 2009). "Rags to Riches". Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  31. Kadleck, Chrissy (November 25, 2015). "Russian Pros are Learning from U.S. Waste & Recycling Techniques". Waste360. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  32. Matonga, Golden (April 3, 2016). "Operations of Development Aid for People to People..." The Nation (Malawi). Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  33. Ricker, Nok-Noi (August 26, 2013). "Controversial collection boxes expanding into Bangor area". Bangor Daily News. Bangor Publishing Co. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  34. "Malawi - Planet Aid, Inc". Planet Aid. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  35. "Mozambique - Planet Aid, Inc". Planet Aid. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  36. "Who We Are". dapp-malawi.org. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  37. "Federation HPP". adpp-mozambique.org. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  38. "Teaching programmes in Cambodia, Malaysia and Malawi to receive UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize (Press release)". UNESCO. March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016 – via Public.
  39. Mpaka, Charles (May 14, 2016). "Dapp named in 'wicked' scheme". The Daily Times (Malawi). Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  40. "Planet Aid's "Recycling" Program, Debunked!". CharityWatch. Archived from the original on April 3, 2021.
  41. "Charity Navigator - Rating for Planet Aid". Charity Navigator. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  42. Smith, Matt (June 8, 2011). "Your Rags to Their Riches: Donated Clothes May Fund International Fugitive". San Francisco Weekly. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  43. Koh, Elizabeth (May 25, 2016). "Your clothing donations to this group might be contributing to a fugitive's scam". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  44. Stockman, Farah (April 7, 2002). "Planet Aid's charity work draws worldwide scrutiny". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  45. "Humanitarian fraudster convicted". Jyllands-Posten. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  46. Waterman, Michael (February 3, 2010). "Mysterious Danish Group Builds Exotic Compound on Baja Coast". San Diego Reader. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  47. "'Cult school' leader sentenced to prison". Copenhagen Post. August 30, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  48. "Økonomichef tager skylden for Tvind-stifter" [Finance manager takes the blame for Tvind founder]. DR.dk (in Danish). Danish Broadcasting Corporation. September 15, 2002. Retrieved March 22, 2016. As early as two hours before Sunday's preliminary hearing of Tvind leader Mogens Amdi Petersen, some of the press were already gathered outside the court in Ringkøbing, where the hearing was to start at 12. Half an hour before the hearing, about 30 people were standing outside waiting to be let in. Among them were three others who were also charged in the Tvind case. These were Mikael Norling, Bodil Ross Sørensen, and Ruth Sejerøe-Olsen.
  49. Ravnsborg, Søren (May 27, 2002). "DTU-lektor trukket ind i Tvind retssag" [DTU lecturer drawn into the Tvind lawsuit]. Ingeniøren (in Danish). Danish Society of Engineers. Retrieved March 28, 2016. Therefore Mikael Norling, a member of the Teachers Group at Tvind and the leader of Tvind's American activities, addressed Arne Wangel.
  50. Michael Bjerre og Christian Jensen (February 26, 2003). "Dom øger presset på Tvind" [Court increases pressure on Tvind]. Berlingske (in Danish). Berlingske Media. Retrieved March 28, 2016. The trial's importance to the Tvind empire was underscored by the fact that one of Tvind's top officials, the president of all US activities, Mikael Norling, attended the court proceedings in September.
  51. Eng, Monica; Jackson, David (February 13, 2004). "Humanitarian work turns into servitude". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Digital.
  52. Stockman, Farah (September 17, 2002). "Charges Prompt AG Review of Charity Denmark Calls Group a 'Front'". Boston Globe (3rd ed.). p. B.3. ProQuest 405477919. Ester Neltrup, a general manager at Planet Aid, said she and Planet Aid's board of directors are members of the Teachers Group, but said the charges in Denmark against eight Teachers Group leaders have nothing to do with the used-clothing charity. ... Yet three of Planet Aid's five board members, including Neltrup, submitted affidavits in support of Pedersen during his extradition proceedings, attesting to the fact that they had "knowingly, intentionally, and voluntarily entered into an eleven-year obligation to donate money directly" from their salaries to the fund that Pedersen is accused of mismanaging. About 140 Teachers Group members submitted similar affidavits from all over the world.
  53. Smith, Matt; Walters, Amy; Ngwira, Kandani (May 23, 2016). "US taxpayers are financing alleged cult through African aid charities". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  54. Smith, Matt; Walters, Amy (May 23, 2016). "Planet Aid's ubiquitous clothing donation boxes aren't so charitable". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting.
  55. "Alleged cult leader plays shell game with US foreign aid". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  56. Smith, Matt; Walters, Amy (January 31, 2017). "USDA said it didn't know charity had problems. Documents show otherwise". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  57. Smith, Matt; Walters, Amy (August 1, 2015). "UNICEF cuts off funding to nonprofit linked to alleged cult". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  58. Meisel, Anna; Cox, Simon (August 2, 2016). "Teachers Group: The cult-like group linked to a charity that gets UK aid". BBC News Magazine. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  59. "UK to stop funding Malawian charity amid 'cult' links". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. August 2, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  60. "Charity Under Scrutiny Fires Back at Reporters". www.corthousenews.com. August 29, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  61. Scharfenberg, Christa; Thompson, Matt (November 5, 2019). "Reveal has been fighting a lawsuit for three years. Now we're speaking up about it". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  62. Scharfenberg, Christa; Baranetsky, D. Victoria (March 29, 2021). "Federal judge dismisses Planet Aid's lawsuit against Reveal". Reveal. Emeryville, Calif.: Center for Investigative Reporting. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  63. Planet Aid, Inc., et al. v. Reveal, Center for Investigative Reporting, et al., 17-cv-03695-MMC (N.D. Cal. 2021).
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