ahava kids is an organization i have supported in the past

as a matter of fact, i JUST sent them another donation. i really do hope attorney general richard blumenthal is WRONG and/or mistaken in this case (i really DO have my fingers crossed). oh, not for my money, but for what was supposed to be happening WITH my money and everyone else's money. damn damn damn if this is true

AG Says Orphan Rescuer Misused Cash

AG claims Ahava Kids founder misused $100,000

By LEANNE GENDREAU

Raymond Bechard’s mission seemed noble. The charity he founded claimed to serve vulnerable people -- victims of human trafficking and orphaned children with AIDS. But Attorney General Richard Blumenthal claims much of the money never went to help anyone other than Bechard himself.

Blumenthal has filed a lawsuit against Bechard, accusing him of pilfering up to $100,000 of $250,000 raised through Ahava Kids, Inc., an organization Bechard started in 2004 that was supposed to be a non-profit.

The Ahava Kids Web site shows sad children’s eyes and claims “your love is their last, best hope.” The plea for money says donations would help rescue victims in the United States and throughout the world.

Funds were also meant to go toward operating a hotline and safe houses, including one in Connecticut and one in Georgia, as well as to help prostitutes and to distribute AIDS medication to orphaned children in third-world countries..........

tim nast and philllip titolo - TWO COOL DUDES

with a cool cause!

(if you're from town, i wonder if you ever noticed this - i sure did a while back - you either KNOW someone on maplewood, KNEW someone on maplewood OR YOU lived or live on maplewood. it's just that kind o' street). shout out to you both! it always makes my heart sing to hear stories like this, especially involving younger people (AND especially involving uconn LAW. i've not had pleasant experiences with most of the students i've come across)

Books For The World

By FULVIO CATIVO Courant Staff Writer

WEST HARTFORD - Phillip Titolo and Tim Nast's Maplewood Avenue apartment is a temporary home for a lot of books.Piles of books wait to be sorted. Boxes of books await shipping. The hundreds of volumes headed out the door are going overseas.Titolo and Nast - roommates, fellow Boston College grads and first year-students at the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford - want to help spread literacy in Africa. So this fall the duo built on their passion for reading and community service and launched an organization, Maplewood Books for Humanity, to provide tools to people learning to read in some of the world's most disadvantaged communities..........

maplewood books for humanity

photo: TIM NAST, left, and Phillip Titolo, first-year law students at UConn, have organized Maplewood Books for Humanity, collecting hundreds of books and paying to send them to schools in English-speaking African nations. They work with nonprofit groups, such as Minnesota's Books for Africa, to get the books to those who need them. They are actively seeking more books that meet their criteria for usefulness, as well as school supplies. (SHANA SURECK / November 2, 2007)