THE GAIA-MOVEMENT LIVING EARTH GREEN NWO DROP-BOX SCAM

"Planet Aid began placing boxes in southern Maine about five years ago; there are currently about 20 boxes in the greater Portland area, four or five in Portland proper. As the Kennebec Journal reported in January, Planet Aid has expanded much more aggressively in central and northern Maine, beginning last year. It opened a warehouse in Gardiner and has about 100 boxes in the region, one of the organizations managers told the paper.

"Much of the negative press coverage Planet Aid has gotten from American media outlets was sparked by a 2006 report by the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), an independent, non-profit watchdog group based in Chicago. An examination of Planet Aids 2004 tax filings revealed that it spent $2 million on International Aid, but $6.6 million on expenses related to Clothing collection.

"AIP estimated that, overall, Planet Aid spent just 23 percent of its revenue that year on programs for the poor. The grade it gave the charity: F. (The institute believes non-profits should spend at least 60 percent of their revenue on charitable programs.)

"Put another way, if you drop four sweaters into a Planet Aid box, the proceeds from the sale of one of them would go to help fund a project in the developing world; the other three would be sold to help Planet Aid collect and sell more sweaters.

"Planet Aid disputes AIPs assessment on grounds that the collection and resale of clothing is part of its charitable mission because recycling clothes benefits the environment (fewer items end up in landfills and incinerators, less energy is spent to manufacture textiles, etc.)."