EXACTLY ... I have personally known Frank Stephens for over 25 years ,he is one of the best left ,  as I worked as a manager  for the Gehl Group for well over a decade and continue to do fundraising to this day.   my company has 1 complaint in our state in over 12 years of phone fundraising --- a fair amount of what I do I learned from Frank Stephens-( i learned far more from a man named Merv Shiner but I digress ) --- fundraisers try to do a good job ... occasionally we get a bad PERSON on the phone ... no different than the bad employee at burger king, applebees or red lobster  who spits on your burger or food  .... BAD EMPLOYEES EVERYWHERE ----- I KNOW IF I FIND ONE THEY  ARE FIRED IMMEDIATELY .. good fundraisers and managers "PROTECT" THE AREA THEY CALL LIKE THEY WOULD THEIR OWN CHILD" ... sure they make a living BUT DO YOU WORK FOR FREE ??? --  ... its the only way for these orginizations to get money --- THE GROUPS I RAISE MONEY FOR LOVE IT ... THEY CALL ME A FUNDRAISING GOD !!!! ...... THEY SAY ----- ITS FREE MONEY .... AND I HAVE CREATED GOOD JOBS IN MY COUNTY FOR OVER 25 YEARS ..... fundraising works .  if done right .... --

agreed .., and your well schooled in the history of fundraising ..( if you ever need to know the ENTIRE history of fundraising let me know .. lol ) . MOST of the orginaizations are happy with the "free money" ... they know what they are getting into when they sign the contract ... THEY are the ones deciding for it to be commenced..... then some of the groups .. when asked by media or the department itself .. the Organization officers many times don't have the courage to own up and say " yes its our fundraiser, we hired, them ,  BUT SO MANY OF THEM "WIMP " OUT
when  done correctly ... fundraising works well ... raises money for worthy causes ( yes it COSTS money to make money ) ... but it also created JOBS in the are ...... AND PLEASE ....... THEY DONT HIRE FELONS AND SCUMBAGS ///// ... SOME MIGHT I SUPPOSE  //// NOT ALL ........... AND  CERTAINLY THE ONES WHO DO I KNOW WHO THEY ARE .... THEY ARE BASTARDIZING THE BUSINESS

i do not have any specific dealing with this charity. but i was a fundraiser for decades. if you want to start a charity for homeless animals? how would you get the $? fundraisers. i'm sad to say that there are some bad people on the phone. i was a phone room manager for over 8 years. you try to get rid of the bad ones. but sometimes you miss out. even companies like AT&T have bad employees. IF the funraiser lies to you? report them. if they say they're a cop, firefighter, disabled vet, etc. the FTC will shut them down & fine the heck out of them. but fundraising as a whole. there's nothing wrong with it. like the other poster said. the police & firefighters can't legally raise the money themselves. so how else to do it? you think the united way doesn't pay their empolyees? they have BMWs & Mercedes in their parking lot. fireco has one of the reputable companies out there. i know.

Just a guy,  Your just uninformed or not very bright. You are being called by a professional fundraiser. Fireco, the Gehl Group. back in the day also Xentel. They are hired by fraternal organization and associations. Most of these are firefighter and police organizations. They are non profit but not tax deductable, they have to give you something for your pledge. That is what it is " a pledge" you are not legally Bound to pay for anything. The fact is only about 60 percent of the people you make a pledge pay it and that's if the fundraiser is lucky. When Joseph Gehl first started he was a music promotor. Good idea to team up with firefighters and police to promot and sell his shows. It grew from there. Back in early 2000 he sold out to Xentel. Fireco president Frank Stephens was Vice president of the Gehl Group. After the sale he went out and started Fireco. What you have to remember is the firefighters and police organizations w***e out their names to make money. They know how much the fundraisers get. 20 percent of 500,000.00 is better than nothing. They can't legally raise it themselves and 100,000.00 is a lot of money to a Faternal org. It's like the Elk's made up of firefighters and police. Anyway good luck in your giving and have a great holiday.

They DO NOT represent any firefighters anywhere nor are any fire fighters or fire depts associated with them in any way. So who are the "firefighters?" They say they send money to Camp
Phoenix for burned children and help families whose homes have been destroyed. They have like 4 employess in JC who are all male and the manager is well....call the number and judge for yourself. They have nothing to do with "firefighters" in any way whatsoever. Their goal is to get you to say yes to concert tickets at over 50 Dollars a sale so you are legally bound to pay once they arrive at your home.

I got a call from these people. I do know a few times they called. I've never been able to donate the requested amount ($25 at the time of this writing) but when I say not to send me a ticket and instead send donation information, they seem disinterested. I don't mind helping the firefighters, but I would rather support volunteer fire departments.

First of all, unfortunately, there is no group called "Tri Cities Fraud Busters".  If it did exist however, it'd be doing everyone a favor by reporting correct information.  The above individual, who claims to have all of this information, can't even be bothered with spelling and grammar apparently...but I digress.  The local FFA has utilized this same fundraiser for the past 6 years, doing one spring, and one fall show per year.  Upon calling both people in charge of their respective areas, you can clearly get all information you need from their website at http://www.tcpffa.org or by calling their main office number at 423-282-1257 and asking to speak to the supervisor.  The reason I know this, is because I've been purchasing tickets from the Johnson City guys ever since they started this years ago, and I've spoken to Ian Keys.  I normally get called by different people every year which leads me to believe (and I could be wrong) that as with any sales type job, they probably go through quite a few people...one wonders if the previous post was from a disgruntled ex employee who just couldn't hack it?  : )

This orginization is indeed a scam, in my opinion it is organized fraud! The supervisers name is Derek Roth and they are a subsidiary of a compnay called FireCo. They employ con artists and felons. They misrepresent themselves on the phone on a regular basis and will say whatever it takes to trick people out of there money. They hold two concerts a year at Freedom Hall. After FireCo pays all of its employees salaries, and the "Fire Fighters Association" salaries, all the costs of the concerts, i.e. artist Freedom Hall rental, ticket printing, etc etc. then FireCo splits whatever money is left 50/50 with the "Fire Fighters Association. They also will tell you they donate tickets to many orginizations that they indeed do not. When you call the main phone number they answer simply fire fighters so they dont represent one area since they say portray themselves from so many different areas. The employees for this call center also call several local restaurants for free food misrepresenting thereself as Fire Fighters. They also have a employee named David Poe that will call dinner theaters, restaurants, and even toy stores to trade concert tickets for items for there own personal use and gain. This is a filthy dirty orginization located behind Dairy Queen in Johnson City TN. Do not buy the concert tickets, do not buy the hype they are selling. Report them, try to record there call and turn them in to the BBB or your local fire station. So little of the money you donate actually goes to help anyone. If you want to help donate at you closest Fire Department in person. Don't give theese filthy crooks one cent of your hard earned money.

Is it  SCAM?

I spoke with 2 members of the Johnson City Fire Dept. including Ian Keys (sp?) They confirmed that their organization does a fundraiser via phone, selling tickets or somthing on that level. Not for the department but for the firefighters association. He said that the Kingsport and Bristol fundraisers are done as well out of their offices. I found out that they are the ones with that fire safety house that my son went through at Cherokee Elem. For once a legit group, so my wife and I bought two of their tickets....but we gave them to friends - can't stand country music :P

Ian Keys is the president of the Johnson City Fire Fighters Assoc.
Matt Sorge is the president of the Kingsport Fire Fighters Assoc.
Keith Bowen is the president of the Bristol VA Fire Fighters Assoc.

Call anyone you would like to see if they are really over the "projects" that these guys call to raise funds for!!!!!

These people have to be the most aggravating people I have ever come across. They call several times per month soliciting for money for some unknown project - it's difficult to tell if its a scam since they wont give any information about who to contact to confirm their authenticity. I have called several fire departments in the area and most of them do their own fundraisers and I still cant get anyone to tell me who these guys are and what they do. They call home phones and work phones repeatedly, even after being told firmly "NO" or "DO NOT CALL BACK".

UPDATE- TRI-CITIES Fire Departments all claim that they do not solicit by phone. STAY CLEAR