The Red Fridays Foundation of Canada & Repatriation Memorial Rally (May 08): Objections & Praise

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

I personally have thought alot about this today. 
And for me I find that I have personal issues with Repatriation Rally and the Red Friday foundation.  Not in the fact that they are having them.  I realize that some find the rally itself may be painful, I can definitely understand why some families would not like to participate, but, for some other families it might give them some closure. I don't know, I have not been in their shoes, I don't really care to assume how they are feel about it.  Everyone with a fallen family member has their own individual thoughts and feeling.  And none of them are wrong. 
It just is.
My issue is that I feel it that I have thought this was a charitable thing, but to find out that they have donated less than a $1000 raises lots of questions for me.  Where is all the money?  And after looking at their web site, I question if all these businesses, charities and families have been mislead?  Maybe they were all as surprised by what they read when they opened the paper.  And why weren't the families of the fallen weren't asked if their family members name could be put on the car?  It raises more questions. 
I doesn't seem all above board for me, and we don't seem to get any solid answers from the foundation.
I wish this wasn't an issue and it was all good.  I hope that we get the answers, but I have a feeling we won't. 
Sorry isn't going to cut it.

This will NOT stop me from supporting the troops, wearing red on Friday or paying my respects when a hero has fallen.

 

[geo]

Refs to TOronto's Warrior day parade.... Excellent!

Quebec City has decided to extend Freedom of the City to 5 CMBG.  The parade is happening on or around Canada day
This'll be year 2 that 5 CMBG will be parading thru the City, drums beating, flags flying and bayonnets fixed.... well, they'll be fixed after the Freedom of the City has been given

Who woulda thought... ??? Quebec City liking it's soldiers

 

[the 48th regulator]

My point, from the very beginning of this thread, was that we already have days and functions dedicated to the soldier.

All I am seeing is a re-hashing of what is already out there, and to me it reeks of ignorance.

The original Red Friday idea was original, yet others have taken it and bent it for there own purposes and agenda, hence the ignorance I talk about.

Rememberance Day, Warriors Day Parade, and The original Red Friday campaign covers what All others are trying to do  and moan that there is lack of recognistion.

Get out there and support traditions that have been around for decades, even the little brother Red Friday!

dileas

tess

 

[LadySierra]

First of all to CaptainJ, Thank you!

Everything we've been trying to say and so much more, you've accomplished.
This topic pulls right at our heart strings so sometimes, it's difficult to put what/how we're feeling about all this into a proper, intelligent sentence (especially when, like yesterday we were so very frustrated and pulling our hair out lol)... You my friend have done so. Thanks!
Don't even get me started about that AM640 interview....LOL but you're right, i'm not the one left looking a fool.  ;D


Engineer's wife, you're not alone. In the very beginning when this foundation/website was first discovered, although we did not trust it, we gave it an honest to goodness chance, we also gave the owner/operator an honest chance as well, even after discovering that he had deceived us before we even knew him, or him us!
Many people believed that this was going to turn out to be a good thing. Lisa and I tried to work with him and his foundation for a short time, unfortunately we were blindsided by it all.
The site/foundation seemed to be mimicking our message. At first glance redfridays.ca seemed like a wonderful place to visit to learn more about RF, the original story behind it and of course our story behind RF in Canada.

You are certainly not alone in wondering where all the money is, but because the RFFD is a registered business and NOT a registered charity, they are not required to provide their financials to anyone unless they are audited.
It all seems so very wrong. I BELIEVE it is all very wrong!
How can someone take such an innocent thing, something that was simply an avenue for Canadians to show their support to members of the Canadian forces and their families, and turn it into something soooo very commercialized.

Regardless of any of this, the important thing is to remember that RED FRIDAYS is solely about wearing red on Fridays as a visual show of support to our Canadian armed forces men and woman and of course, their families as well. 

 

[TSL]

Why stop there? Why not put coffins in the vehicles? Why not hold a simulated full-blown funeral as well?

While OPP participation is a nice gesture on their part, I think that if somebody suggested showing support for police by simulating a police funeral parade, they might not be quite so enthusiastic.

The disrespect shown to at least some families is extremely distressing as well.

Good point ... I am sure more people would see and understand what is not right with this part of their event!
The drive part of this rally ... does not sit well with me ... and from the feedback and what we've read and heard ... it doesn't sit well with alot of people


The car should never have had the names of all the fallen on it .... not without first ASKING ALL the families permission ... and having ALL families agree (and should there have been mixed opinions within those family units about this ... it should not be considered) to assume that a name is PUBLIC because it was printed in the papers or on websites (when the media/DND announced the names of our fallen) is wrong
They are gone from this earth but thier names are STILL THEIRS .... you don't take something just because someone isn't using it anymore and turn around and use it for your own purposes!!!! IE: placing it on a car and parading it down the road (even if you state it is to honour our fallen) the name and the use of the name should be at the discretion of the families

I am sorry, but in MY opinion ... by stating ALL over the web and in the news that the names of all the fallen are on the vehicle and that said vehicle will be auctioned off later and so on and so forth ... that's using the fallen to generate more attention ... and that is very very WRONG <again my opinion>

Shame on those who came up with this idea!!!

a radio host made this comment and it hit the nail on the head

There is a reason we have only ONE tomb of the unknown soldier

That unknown solider is symbolic of ALL the hero's we've lost  <<correct me if I am wrong>>

Why did REDFRIDAYS.CA not just have one BLANK RED CAR drive the highway in honour of our fallen ????
it would have been very symbolic ... no?


just an FYI : at every rally event I have held or seen or been told about ... there has ALWAYS been a moment or two of silence in honour of our fallen and their families

THAT is my two cents worth .... maybe a little more than 2 cents!!!

I will continue to wear red every Friday!

 

[Trinity]

Straight from their website

Our Mission:

    * To promote wearing Red on Fridays that is impartial to any world events and remain non partisan on supporting the Canadian Troops.
    * To offer all  organizations that support the movement to wear Red on Fridays a common website portal for their events and assistance in organizing their events.
    * To respect all soldiers that have given their lives for Canada by publishing a memorial for those that have fallen recently
    * To create brand recognition the RED FRIDAYS RIBBON as a nationally recognized symbol for support of our Canadian troops.
    * To offer media a single source of Red Fridays activities nation wide.
    * To be recognized as a Canadian source for supporting Canadian troops, Canadian Forces activities information and liaison for Canadian Citizens to show support to our troops.
 

Brand recognition as a support for Canadian troops..... ok...!!!?!?!

Go into their products for sale and you'll see this

American flag with red fridays on the bottom???

So... how does having an American flag help their goal of brand recognition for Canada???
Isn't that contrary to their own mission statement!??!?!


They also have an American Soldier pic on their front page.
They still have that fake spam letter on their site.
They still have the pic of a certain injured Cpl (name withheld) on their site after he asked for it to come down.

Wow...  just wow. 


edit: btw... not attacking America in any way (I appreciate our allies)

 

[LadySierra]

They still have the pic of a certain injured Cpl (name withheld) on their site after he asked for it to come down.

Seems pretty contradictory, his mission statement that is, doesn't it?

As for that certain Cpl, he's been asking for quite some time to have any info pertaining to him removed from the site, and as you can see, it's still there. I'm certainly NOT surprised!
The info should have been removed upon FIRST request. Although, it never seems to happen that way.

 

[captainj]

Lady Sierra thanks for that but you 2 have show incredible courage over the past couple of days thank you.

History is a great teacher or so they say. Like the Red Fridays girls a certain reg charity named after a unnamed Cpl who was then a Sapper also  gave The Red Fridays Foundation every chance. He asked to help us in our fundraising efforts. We did what most do and take people on faith. Guess what after approx 6 months of him doing business using our name by way of endorsement lunch bag let down. We saw the level of business he was doing and asked for the net profits as he promised. What we got was I am out of work, I have expenses, that is not what we agreed to etc. Now to be fair he did give us were the takings of the donation box no more than a few 100 dollars, I can only assume the figures were correct. However nothing from product sales. At the 2007 International Motorcycle Show he reported grossing $7K cash plus. That would net approx $4K just one event a long time ago show me the money. We walked away feeling a bit foolish and duped. I do not fault any corporation or car dealership who did the same thing we did. It is called trust a human flaw I suppose. If I couild turn back the hands of time......

So here we are now some 2 years later. I have a crazy idea on the Red Fridays Foundation they articulate they will "donate" to the Tony Stacey Centre, The RCL comforts fund, and The Cdn Hearing Society. Why not releave the Foundation of such a heavy burden and donate directly to these worthy causes.

On another matter what do you guys think about the petition/letter and or calls to the dealership and thje Chrysler Corp. "Get that Car off the road".

 

[Leebaby]

I'll sign the petition to get the car off the road.

 

[TSL]

Red Fridays Foundation claims that they have not received complaints about their rally/drive (as of the other day anyway!)

I would like to encourage all of you, who have issue with ANY PART of this weekends events to email them to his site!

Sometimes we complain a lot  to each other but never to those who we are truly upset with ... Do not be silent ... send your thoughts

 

[Loachman]

Red Fridays Foundation claims that they have not received complaints about their rally/drive (as of the other day anyway!)

Perhaps they're not reading their mail.

They are certainly not responding immediately.

 

[Yrys]

Red Fridays Foundation claims that they have not received complaints about their rally/drive (as of the other day anyway!)

I would like to encourage all of you, who have issue with ANY PART of this weekends events to email them to his site!

Erased my line with their address. Sorry about that .

 

[George Wallace]

Perhaps their "SPAM FILTER" filters more than just Spam.

To combat spam we require you to enter the answer to the security question on the left.

 

[Yrys]

Well, I can't get pass that filter (answered 5 questions so far)  !

add :

(What color do you wear on Fridays? , The capital of Canada , What month is Canada Day? What city is the rally starting in? ,
How many Canadian soldiers have been lost?, Enter Canada in caps. , What Canadian road is known as the Highway of Heros? ,
What is the month after July.  , What month is Christmas? )

 

[McG]

While I appreciate that many are not pleased with Red Fridays Foundation of Canada and a lot of what it has done.  As a preemptive caution, please do not use this site as a stagging area to coordinate actions against that organization.

 

[PMedMoe]

Well, I can't get pass that filter (answered 5 questions so far)  !

add :

(What color do you wear on Fridays? , The capital of Canada , What month is Canada Day? What city is the rally starting in? ,
How many Canadian soldiers have been lost?, Enter Canada in caps. , What Canadian road is known as the Highway of Heros? ,
What is the month after July.  , What month is Christmas? )

So, makes it darn near impossible for a comment to get to them?  Nice.  Bet if you want to register for a donation it's much easier.

 

[ENGINEERS WIFE]

I sent them an email saying I would NOT be supporting the Rally or anything from/about them.  And that I thought that is was in extremely poor taste to not ask the family of the fallen if they could put their names on the car.  And I also asked them how much money had actually been sent, besides the $1000.  The response I got was 'We are sorry you won't be attending the rally, but thank you for supporting Red Fridays.' 
And I also noticed that they had taken a certain Cpl pic off their website that was on this morning.
This is me shaking my head in disgust : GRRRRR :threat: 

 

[Kennbard]

There are several issues I don't like about Brian Muntz's Red Friday operations He states: "that a charity cannot donate to a charity.... Well I belong to a charity and we donate to all sorts of other charities and non - profit organizations, there are others who do the same ie LIONS CLUB, ROTARY, KIWANIS, ELKS, CHURCHES, they are all non profit and they donate to all sorts of non - profit and charitable organizations.  United Way is another organization which donates to a multitude of charities and non- profit organizations.  Makes ya wanna go... MMMMM !! Red Friday is a profit making business, a question should be asked, should they be allowed to collect money under the claims of donations to run its operations?  Red Friday claims that the cost of running the event in May will cost upward of $10,000 just for the staging and speakers system.  How come he didn't ask the suppliers to donate the items ie: staging, mics, electronics in lieu of advertising, which I am sure has a greater return in community appreciation.  We run many events where large corporations donate the equipment without charge as long as they get to put up a banner.  I have borrowed a staging unit and speaker system for other events at a fraction of the cost.  If Mr. B. Muntz and his organization want the trust of the people I believe he should have a separate agency collect and audit the monies and become a nonprofit organization.  Making money on this events such as this and the reason behind it is an insult.
From an ol' Vet 

 

[Yrys]

I sent them an email saying I would NOT be supporting the Rally or anything from/about them. 

That may seem lame or basic, but how did you send the email  ?

 

[Strike]

There are several issues I don't like about Brian Muntz's Red Friday operations He states: "that a charity cannot donate to a charity.... Well I belong to a charity and we donate to all sorts of other charities and non - profit organizations, there are others who do the same ie LIONS CLUB, ROTARY, KIWANIS, ELKS, CHURCHES, they are all non profit and they donate to all sorts of non - profit and charitable organizations.  United Way is another organization which donates to a multitude of charities and non- profit organizations.  Makes ya wanna go... MMMMM !! Red Friday is a profit making business, a question should be asked, should they be allowed to collect money under the claims of donations to run its operations?  Red Friday claims that the cost of running the event in May will cost upward of $10,000 just for the staging and speakers system.  How come he didn't ask the suppliers to donate the items ie: staging, mics, electronics in lieu of advertising, which I am sure has a greater return in community appreciation.  We run many events where large corporations donate the equipment without charge as long as they get to put up a banner.  I have borrowed a staging unit and speaker system for other events at a fraction of the cost.  If Mr. B. Muntz and his organization want the trust of the people I believe he should have a separate agency collect and audit the monies and become a nonprofit organization.  Making money on this events such as this and the reason behind it is an insult.
From an ol' Vet 

Wow, sounds familiar.  Sounds like he has a canned e-mail he sends out to those who complain.

Hmmm, they don't like that we've got a car with names?  Gotta insert this paragraph.  Oh, now they have an issue with our being a registered business?  This statement here will do quite well.