Kaine creates Kyron Horman Foundation

[Leila]

I think he means it was a struggle in the beginning to get posters, bracelets, t-shirts, etc set up to be made and paid for. Most people wouldn't know how to even get started on that process when they are unexpectedly thrown into it. A foundation could help them.

If there isn't a resource in the Portland area already, I like the idea of Kaine setting up a foundation there in Kyron's name. While other organizations are national, it's good to have some sort of local resource that can step in and immediately lend assistance when and if a child or an adult in the Portland area goes missing.

 

[Leila]

I agree!

I agree too, as I think struggling with things like fliers and tee-shirts should be the last thing someone who's loved one is missing should have to deal with. I think it would be great to have a local foundation there and one call from a family member or friend can get things started in a time of need.

I like the idea of keeping something like this local too, as the person in charge knows the local businesses and knows who will get fliers and tee-shirts done quickly at a fair price.

 

[Leila]

I don't think there are too many foundations, there are just too many missing and murdered children.
if parents of missing,exploited, or murdered children want to set up 10 foundations to help others and if it makes them feel productive when they are at their lowest point, then more power to them and I wish them the best.

I agree, and will say this again...........I like keeping it local. If and when another person in the Portland area is missing, there's something already in place. Funds from the foundations can be used to help a family out with fliers and tee-shirts, and the funds replenished with another pizza night or another local restaurant holding a fund-raiser.

I think people are more likely to donate to a local community fund-raiser. They know the funds are going into a local foundation and are being spent locally.

 

[Mylou]

I think he means it was a struggle in the beginning to get posters, bracelets, t-shirts, etc set up to be made and paid for. Most people wouldn't know how to even get started on that process when they are unexpectedly thrown into it. A foundation could help them.

Thanks, that makes sense. My head was really whirling reading past tense there.

 

[Angel4u2Whisper2]

Hi, all, throwing in my two cents.

Thirty-one years ago, my brother went missing and wasn’t found for ten long days. That waiting-time until his body was found brutally murdered was excruciating. Having lived this nightmare, although for a much briefer time, I know first-hand what this family is going through.

To honor my brother’s memory, my dad established a foundation in the early 1980’s to give money to others in need. All foundations are set up differently, but our by-laws state that we have to give a certain percentage of the Foundation’s grant money to drug/alcohol programs because our brother was murdered indirectly as a result of drugs. The remainder of the money goes to various non-profits that we (my two sisters and I), as Board Members, all care about.

Over the last three decades, we have donated to animals (Humane Society, PAWS, Katrina animals), families in transition, local schools, local food banks, local senior centers, local Christmas "toys-for-kids," and many other local things.

Giving money to these diverse groups and watching them thrive as a result, has been the only positive thing to come from my brother’s murder.

We could have given the money to one of the bigger organizations to distribute, but we chose not to. Having our own foundation allows us to know and decide exactly where our money is going. Perhaps this is what Kaine and Desiree want to do with Kyron’s Foundation. Have some control over where the money goes and who benefits from it.

Welcome love-to-dig to Websluths and thank you so much for sharing your personal story about your brother.

:Welcome-12-june:

 

[loves2bmom]

I think most are big hearted and sympathetic to the misery this family has had to endure, that they would never be so selfish and self centered as to actually ask for money back. it would be a sad day if that happened.
I only donate to those organizations that I trust to do what they deem best with the donations. No strings attached, just help to find Kyron any way they can. If they need money for fliers instead of SAR, so be it and I would only hope my dollars help in some small way.

Thank you for saying this. I agree! Whatever Kaine and Desiree deem to be appropriate use of the funds is fine by me. Never in a million years would I ask for money back....yikes! In fact, if they have another fund raiser at Roloff Farms, I'll be there too!

 

[sorrell skye]

I believe Somer Thompson's mother - Diena Thompson - established a foundation in Somer's name with the intent to help families who experience the tragedy of a missing child.

Perhaps KH should contact DT? Or perhaps DT should contact KH?

 

[Billylee]

I also find it a bit odd that a foundation has been set up this early on, when both parents believe the missing child is still alive. I mean, if Kyron miraculously turns up tomorrow, or next week, or next month, what will happen with the foundation? But if the foundation does with the money what they said they will, help other families of missing children, then what does it matter?

I donated on the website they set up and the $ went through paypal directly to MCSO. (Which is A-OK, because here in OR, just like CA, the government is in the red, jobs are being eliminated at all levels, everywhere!) So long as this money is used to find ANY missing child then it's okay with me!

 

[Calliope]

I've heard from other parents of missing family (in interviews) that when you lose a loved one, the first days are a blur of grief and fear and panic. LE does all they can but most of these families need to print up their own flyers and get publicity out there. Kyron's family faced having to do that without knowing what to do, in the midst of their grief, fear and panic. That's tough. Now they have coordinated their efforts and have a plan in place. It was tough before they got that together. Seems real clear to me.
But I agree that having numerous foundations may dilute the good work that they can do. I think the Carrington Sund Foundation is a great one, (don't know if they operate out of Oregon though), that will coordinate all of that stuff for the family, will appoint a family spokesperson, will coordinate call centers, searches, and has someone to speak with the family and hold their hand throughout it. KlaasKids also assists, in a similar manner, the parents of missing children. But I don't know how far reaching these programs are or if the parents of missing kids want or need to create foundations that can be used to facilitate the search for only their child, as they cannot dictate what happens to the money donated to the other foundations and how much of it goes to efforts to find their specific child. So, I understand why they would want their own foundation.



LE of course always searches but obviously they are limited in what they can do and sometimes they reasonably limit searches, and sometimes unreasonably limit searches. Regardless, if a person remains missing when LE has halted searches, the need for searches does not diminish. That's why families of missing people often coordinate their own searches. That's why TES is often called in by families of a missing loved one. Because LE cannot or will not always do all that needs to be done. I think about Susan Powell who LE is not conducting ground searches for (not criticizing them though. It's like finding a needle in a hay stack).
So, even though our tax dollars go for such searches, if I knew someone who was missing, I would not rest on my laurels waiting for the government to get it done. I'd call TES or coordinate my own searches in some fashion. I see nothing unreasonable in what these parents are doing.

I've not seen any indication that Kaine and Desiree are bringing in private searchers; from all appearances they're relying solely on LE.

 

[cluciano63]

Maybe they will use this money to bring in Equisearch (excuse spelling.) But I wouldn't have any idea where to tell them to begin a search.

 

[love_to_dig]

I agree, and will say this again...........I like keeping it local. If and when another person in the Portland area is missing, there's something already in place. Funds from the foundations can be used to help a family out with fliers and tee-shirts, and the funds replenished with another pizza night or another local restaurant holding a fund-raiser.

I think people are more likely to donate to a local community fund-raiser. They know the funds are going into a local foundation and are being spent locally.

Leila, I totally agree with you on this point about keeping it local. It's more personal when something horrible happens in our own backyard, and we are more likely to pay attention to that story. And I think we are more likely to try and help in any way, including giving money to the cause.

I found Websleuths in February because of a local missing teenager. I didn't know crime forums existed until I googled this missing girl's name. I had followed other stories of missing persons (CA, LP, SP), but only through MSM. I was floored when I saw all of the true crime sites. Who knew? I didn't, until this violent crime hit so close to home. It was local. I noticed that many of the people posting to her WS thread were newbies like me.

And I've noticed the same thing on Kyron's forum. Many, many found and joined this site after the story broke in early June. (I swear I'm not sleuthing anyone -- only noticing the "join date.") :innocent: Because it's local.

I think people want to come together in a time of collective mourning, and this site helps provide that unity. (Besides being a place to brainstorm over what happened.)

Back to the Foundation...If there is someone on Kyron's Foundation Board who can assist another family who may need help in coordinating the logistics of fliers, t-shirts, billboards and fund-raisers, all the better.

 

[gitana1]

I also find it a bit odd that a foundation has been set up this early on, when both parents believe the missing child is still alive. I mean, if Kyron miraculously turns up tomorrow, or next week, or next month, what will happen with the foundation? But if the foundation does with the money what they said they will, help other families of missing children, then what does it matter?

I donated on the website they set up and the $ went through paypal directly to MCSO. (Which is A-OK, because here in OR, just like CA, the government is in the red, jobs are being eliminated at all levels, everywhere!) So long as this money is used to find ANY missing child then it's okay with me!

I think they said that the foundation would be used to help other families with missing kids once Kyron is found.

I've not seen any indication that Kaine and Desiree are bringing in private searchers; from all appearances they're relying solely on LE.

Well, they just set up this foundation. It could take more than a day or two to fund private searches and then coordinate them, figure out where to start, where to look. But I actually have no clue if they are going to use funds to do this or not. (And I frankly don't care how Kyron's parents decide to use the funds in their quest to find their son).

 

[Tink56]

I think they said that the foundation would be used to help other families with missing kids once Kyron is found.


Well, they just set up this foundation. It could take more than a day or two while to fund private searches and then coordinate them, figure out where to start, where to look. But I actually have no clue if they are going to use funds to do this or not. (And I frankly don't care how Kyron's parents decide to use the funds in their quest to find their son).

BBM...I certainly agree. This is the very beginnng of this foundation. It is providing a positive focus for the bio parents and truthfully helping some of us to feel useful. In time, we will know their decision on "how" and "where" the funds will be used.

 

[JBean]

I think they said that the foundation would be used to help other families with missing kids once Kyron is found.


Well, they just set up this foundation. It could take more than a day or two while to fund private searches and then coordinate them, figure out where to start, where to look. But I actually have no clue if they are going to use funds to do this or not. (And I frankly don't care how Kyron's parents decide to use the funds in their quest to find their son).

>>Horman said that once Kyron comes home he wants to use the foundation to help other families pay for fliers and other forms of support when their children disappear, as Kyron did. <<

 

[Aedrys]

Only good can come out of this foundation. I can't believe there is negativity over this!
Maybe Kaine and Desiree should shut themselves away somewhere with no cellphone or computer and do nothing. It seems to be working to TH's benefit. Instead, they setup up a foundation to help other families when their kids go missing and somehow that's a bad thing. I just don't get it. I don't see anything wrong with what Kaine said or what they are doing.

 

[Calliope]

Well, they just set up this foundation. It could take more than a day or two to fund private searches and then coordinate them, figure out where to start, where to look. But I actually have no clue if they are going to use funds to do this or not. (And I frankly don't care how Kyron's parents decide to use the funds in their quest to find their son).

I was simply answering your statement: " ...if I knew someone who was missing, I would not rest on my laurels waiting for the government to get it done. I'd call TES or coordinate my own searches in some fashion. I see nothing unreasonable in what these parents are doing."


They've shown no indication they want to utilize anything other than government resources in the search for Kyron. (I know this has been brought up in interviews, too; I have no idea which ones so I can't link)

 

[Calliope]

Only good can come out of this foundation. I can't believe there is negativity over this!

Maybe Kaine and Desiree should shut themselves away somewhere with no cellphone or computer and do nothing. It seems to be working to TH's benefit. Instead, they setup up a foundation to help other families when their kids go missing and somehow that's a bad thing. I just don't get it. I don't see anything wrong with what Kaine said or what they are doing.

I don't see negativity; Ruby and Surrogatemom brought up some good, valid points. I've not seen anyone accusing Kaine of fraudulent activity regarding this foundation. (I can't answer to the Anthony's foundation; I'm sure you have proof it's fraudulent, but I've not kept up on that case so I can't say either way. I would hope people who know of this would have turned them in for this by now)

Since Kaine and Desiree have the final say in how the money is spent from both funds, I don't see where it matters much anyway.

 

[cypress]

Only good can come out of this foundation. I can't believe there is negativity over this!

Maybe Kaine and Desiree should shut themselves away somewhere with no cellphone or computer and do nothing. It seems to be working to TH's benefit. Instead, they setup up a foundation to help other families when their kids go missing and somehow that's a bad thing. I just don't get it. I don't see anything wrong with what Kaine said or what they are doing.

I haven't said much about this, but I will say that if a fundraiser is advertised a certain way, money is raised, and then after the fact the money is dispersed in a way different than how the advertising for the fundraiser said it would be, that is wrong. Even if it's for a good cause, perhaps donors will feel uncomfortable with their money being used at the discretion of Kaine and Desiree as opposed to being used the way they were led to believe it would be used.

 

[debs]

On the bringkyronhome site, there is a statement that says "a donation was made....."

I agree that the way that it was advertised (The Godfather's Pizza fundraiser) was to give 25% of the proceeds made to the MCSO for searches. They made $14K, gave MCSO $8K, and $6K went into the Foundation coffers to be used by Kaine and Desiree at their discretion toward future searches for other children and their families.

It is my personal belief, one I've held since the very first time I heard of someone raising funds for a foundation named after their missing child, that money that could be available for national organizations like the Centers for Missing and Exploited Children are once again being diverted.

It is my personal belief also that no one should be doing this. But, as always, with all sincerity, good luck to them.

 

[cluciano63]

Creating a foundation is not a problem for anyone, it is a wonderful idea. But it is never a good idea, for whatever reason or misunderstanding, for there to be any confusion about funds raised and where they will be going. It just makes people more cautious about donating than they might be otherwise.