Alex Rodriguez’s Charity Gave One Just Percent Of Donations To Charitable Causes
Alex Rodriguez’s charity gave just one percent of its income to actual charitable causes — and was eventually stripped of its tax exempt status.
The charity, the A-Rod Family Foundation, raised $403,862 in 2006 with a poker tournament that included Jay-Z. But the IRS reports that just one percent actually reached charities.
They saw $5,000 go to Jay-Z’s Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund, while just $90 went to a Little League baseball team in Miami, reports Yahoo! Sports.
After Rodriguez’s foundation stopped filing financial reports with the IRS, it was stripped of its tax exempt status — though the foundation still tells people on its website that it is a nonprofit organization.
But Alex Rodriguez is not the only athlete whose charity work was, well, less than charitable. Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett’s foundation gave 37 percent of its revenues, while Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin’s foundation barely passed 17 percent to charities.
Sports Illustrated notes that there is plenty of irony regarding A-Rod’s charity woes. When he launched the organization, Rodriguez’s aim was to reverse bad publicity he received after he was outed as a member of an underground poker club. Therefore, he founded the charity — which started a celebrity poker tournament with Jay-Z.
He explained in an interview at the time:
“I got in some trouble for poker last year, so why not turn it around and raise some money for the children?”
The only problem? Only one percent of the proceeds are accounted for. The allegations surrounding A-Rod’s charity also come as rumors swirled again that the Yankees shortstop used performance enhancing drugs. There is also a rumor going around that the Yankees are trying to terminate their contract with him.
Are you surprised to hear that Alex Rodriguez’s foundation gave just one percent of its proceeds to actual charities?
[Image by Keith Allison (originally posted to Flickr as AAAA8732) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons]
