We received this email from a neighbor:
I was just “had” by someone claiming to raise funds for a good cause. An African American man told me he was with the Ballard Beavers, raising money for supplies the kids would need to clean our neighborhood. He was a fast talker with answers to everything but the organization he said he works for doesn’t exist in Seattle: TADA: Teens against Drugs and Alcohol. He also handed me some important looking papers but kept talking so fast that I didn’t take the time to look at what he handed me, which was the SPL Summer Reading Program Brochure and Spotlight, a publication from the Mayor’s Office for Senior Citizens. He was only asking for a dollar from me but I gave him more.
It would be great if we could get a warning out to the rest of the neighborhood to be careful about anyone asking for money door to door. I should have known better but I opened the door right away when he mentioned the Ballard Beavers.
We checked with Ballard High School principal Keven Wynkoop who says, “This does not sound like any groups we have fundraising and our kids rarely go door to door. Please get the word out that it is not us.”
