The following individuals, claiming to be NorCal Equine Rescue fundraiser volunteers, have been raising funds under NorCal Equine Rescue for 3 years, we believe without a plan of ever sending the donated funds to NorCal Equine Rescue. Please contact us if you have ever seen them at a booth.

They had a very attractive display, with a wide assortment of dream catchers and lamps.

The sign was attractively placed with a donation can in front with some money inside. You could tell the sign was getting old and had been around a lot!

As soon as we got there, the man pulled out some documents stating he had permission to fund raise for us.

He had an email from us dated 2006. Please, other non-profits, take this as a lesson. Back in 2006, Oroville Mercury Register did an article on us. Shortly after we got a phone call from Cliff Hoffman, with CJ Promotions. He stated that he sold newspapers and magazine subscriptions, and he wanted to donate the proceeds. We thought it was so wonderful of him to offer, and to pick us to fund raise for. We emailed him a letter stating he could fund raise for us, and we were hopeful to see donations coming in soon. We never received anything, so we assumed that he had changed his mind. But, the paperwork that the man pulled out was the same email we had sent over 3 years ago. He had it laminated to ensure its long life.

We believe he has been raising funds in our name since then. He admitted he had never sent funds to us "I didn't know how to go about it."

Tawnee looked at the donation can, and to her horror, it was marked for Horse Rescue Relief and Retirement, Inc in Georgia, so the donations in the can legally belong to them! Tawnee asked if the folks in Georgia know that they were raising money for them. The man said "No, I'm raising money for you guys." Jason: "Apparently you're not since we haven't gotten any." Man: "No sir, you have not." We of course videod as much of the conversations.

It was decided to let them finish out the day and all the proceeds coming in would, of course, go to NorCal Equine Rescue. We asked about all their previous fundraising efforts, and they thought they could find the records at home somewhere if they looked for them, but they were not sure where the calendar was. They weren't really sure if they had done 3 or 4 fundraisers for us, but it was definitely "about three" at this store. They had been at Sacramento and who knows where else. They stated they go to a lot of craft shows.

They decided to quit selling their items and pack up early.

While they were putting away items, we found other evidence of fundraising under our name such as this slip they has stuck in the bottom of a box.

We decided before they left that we had better get the funds straightened out for at least todays events. We had volunteers sitting in the parking lot watching how much they sold, so we hope that at least today's funds were actually donated where they were supposed to. While counting she would count bills multiple times, and try various other tricks for not handing over the full days funds. She started arguing and getting quite flustered and upset, at which point a by-stander called the police to make sure that it all remained peaceful. In all they handed over about $130, $23.56 of which goes to the horse rescue in Georgia.

The police arrived and took down a full report and told us to take them to court.

The police searched their belongings to make sure they did not have any NorCal fundraising signs remaining.

Soon they were loading their stuff into their truck to head out. If anyone ever sees people fundraising for us, please give us a quick call to see if they are legitimate or not. We are hoping to put an event calendar on our website soon which will list all of the approved events and fundraisers. Please, other organizations, beware: don't give a letter stating that people can fund raise for you to anyone, apparently they will quite often disappear and make a bunch of money for themselves under your name, plus they can bring a bad image to your organization by a lack of knowledge about your organization. For instance, they told us "People ask if we can take horses, what do we say?" And "What is an equine?"

If anyone has seen this booth anywhere or anyone by the name of "Cliff" or "CJ" raising funds for NorCal Equine Rescue, please let us know!