News on The Police, Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers

Tue May 06 2008 | THE POLICE AND MILLIONTREESNYC - LAST CONCERT IN NYC

As released by NYC:
Mayor Bloomberg and The Police announce contribution to MillionTreesNYC and reveal that their last ever concert will take place in New York City to benefit local public televisions stations...
$2 Million Contribution to MillionTreesNYC - $1 Million Pledged by The Police, an Amount Matched by the City - Will Plant 10,000 New Trees and Help Reforest 2,000 Acres. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland of The Police to announce that the band's final concert will be in New York City and their commitment to MillionTreesNYC, the City's initiative to plant one million trees by the year 2017. MillionTreesNYC is a component of PlaNYC, the Mayor's plan to make the City more sustainable and reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030. The Police pledged $1 million to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City in support of MillionTreesNYC. This donation, matched by the City, will provide $2 million to help launch the reforestation component of MillionTreesNYC which will plant 10,000 trees and reforest 2,000 acres of parkland across the five boroughs. Reforestation efforts improve air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gases and lower energy costs.
"The Police are now part of one of the most exciting elements of PlaNYC - MillionTreesNYC - our initiative to plant one million new trees over the next 10 years," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Sting's human right's advocacy is well known, as is his support for the environment, especially the rainforests. Today The Police have demonstrated their commitment to greening our City."
"We are pleased to contribute to this powerful and historic initiative that will undoubtedly improve the quality of life for future generations," said The Police. "We applaud Mayor Bloomberg and the City of New York for boldly confronting the City's environmental issues and are excited to support their goal of creating a healthier, more sustainable City."
The Police also announced that their final concert ever will be a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the production of arts programming for Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York. Tickets will be available nationally online via Thirteen/WNET and WLIW. More details about the benefit show, including venue and ticket information, will be released at a later date.
"We kicked off our very first American tour at CBGB's in 1978 and this summer, thirty years later, our journey will come full circle as we play our final show here in New York City," said The Police. "We are honored to partner with public television and have a deep respect for their commitment to arts and culture." More...

Posted on May 06, 08 | 2:15 pm | [0] comments (46 views)

Tue May 06 2008 | FOX DEFENDS RAINFOREST FOUNDATION

Following article was posted earlier today by FOX in response to The Post article:
The Rainforest Foundation, closely associated with Sting and his humanitarian cause-driven wife Trudie Styler, is one of our favorites. It’s squeaky clean and does an enormous amount of good in Third World countries.
That’s why today’s poorly reported piece in The New York Post was such a shock. The writer got it wrong, and left no chance for rebuttal. It was a smear, a hit and run. So let’s correct it.
The gist of the Post story — which was designed to embarrass Sting and Styler on the eve of the biannual Rainforest concert and fundraising dinner — was that the $2.7 million in gross receipts collected by the U.S. fund from the last concert and dinner should have gone directly to distribution.
This doesn’t even make sense. It would kill any long term objectives of the foundation. The concerts, Styler points out, are not like “Live Aid,” a one-time event, or the 9/11 Concert for New York. In those instances, the money is collected and immediately distributed.
“The Rainforest Foundation is celebrating its 20th year,” says Styler. “We wouldn’t still be in business or have given out millions of dollars over the years if we’d spent everything we made immediately after it came in.”
Several things the Post article did not comprehend properly: there is an overall Rainforest Foundation Fund that has satellite branches in the U.S., Norway and Great Britain.
Last year, the Rainforest Foundation Fund, Inc, the parent group, gave away $887,000 to a variety of needy groups in Africa and South America.
It’s the U.S. foundation that puts on the Carnegie Hall concerts. That money is then sent to the main foundation after minimal expenses for the U.S. office. Reporter Isabel Vincent didn’t report this at all.
Total revenue in 2006 for the U.S. office was $672,013; Of that, $376, 177 — or 55 percent — went to Rainforest programs.
Vincent also reported that a receptionist at the Foundation’s office told her “the entire staff was out at a film festival.”
Well, the entire staff comprises four people including the receptionist, the director, the program development director, and the accountant. Three of the four people were there when Vincent arrived without an appointment. (She’d been offered one but declined.) Both Michelle Petri and Athos Gontijo were present and saw Vincent.
The current director, Christine Halverson, was out, but not at the movies, as is suggested. She was moderating a panel on Indigenous Filmmakers from Brazil at the United Nations, translating Portuguese to English.
These four people, by the way, receive a total salary of $177,000. Halverson receives $68,500 a year. Compare that with, say, Joel Peresman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He takes home $350,000 — and I don’t think he knows Portugese.
Ironically, on Tuesday Sting and The Police — separate from the Foundation — are set to make a stunning presentation to Mayor Michael Bloomberg regarding New York City and the environment. The Police have been exploring a way to make an environmental gift for months.
Source: FOXNews.com

Posted on May 06, 08 | 9:58 am | [1] comments (55 views)

Tue May 06 2008 | STING'S RAINFOREST FOUNDATION UNDER FIRE

Charity Navigator, a watchdog group, has rated the Rainforest Foundation as one of the worst for percentage of actual monies used for the purported charity. Sting and his wife Trudie Styler fronted a charity to save the world's rainforests, and so far it has raked in millions, but less than half the riches actually funded tree-saving programs, according to charity watchdogs and a New York Post review of tax records. The charity was founded in 1989 by Sting, his wife, Trudie Styler, and Belgian photographer Jean Pierre Dutilleux.
The next annual Carnegie concert takes place Thursday; it is an ongoing concert series that raises money for the Rainforest Foundation, and its US affiliate, Rainforest Foundation Inc., based in New York City.
The 2006 concert - according to the New York Post - raised $2,156,989, per the latest available IRS tax filing.
The Post claims that $887,374 of the money raised, (41 percent), was divided among the charity's eight programs that support native-land claims and forest preservation in Latin America and Africa. Not good enough says Charity watchdogs. The approved ratio is 75 percent of total revenues on programs, per the Post. The watchdog group has given Rainforest Foundation Inc. a zero rating for each of the last four years.
The Post claims the Charity "hoards" cash reserves of donations. Something watchdog groups frown upon, saying a bona fide organization would not bank more than a year's expenses.
The Post also brings up discrepancies with the allowable ticket face value, and what people can legally write off as a donation versus the face value they are charged. "The charity sold the tickets for between $100 and $600 but estimated the fair market value at a mere $45 per ticket. This allowed buyers to write off most of the ticket price as a donation," writes The Post.
"If the receipts are wrong, donors could face IRS audits," said James Dellinger, an analyst for Capital Research, a watchdog group based in Washington to the Post.
Now Charity co-founder Dutilleux, who is no longer involved, has joined the watchdogs with his own criticisms. "I have kept quiet for almost 20 years, hoping for improvement," he told The Post, referring to the allegations. "But enough is enough. Everything is true or worse."
Source: M&C People

Posted on May 06, 08 | 4:08 am | [5] comments (59 views)