Tuesday, October 26, 2010

National Guard faith-based subcontractor "snared in scandal" after Bagwell inquiry

Dare Mighty Things president David Van Patten
 Photo: Daily Gazette,Schenectady NY, 7/2/10
From Portsmouth company snared in scandal; Candidate wants firm's finances public by Elizabeth Dinan, Portsmouth Herald, October 25, 2010
Tim Bagwell, an Illinois Democratic candidate for Congress, issued a public statement last Monday describing Portsmouth-based Dare Mighty Things as a funding source for a former nonprofit that raised millions of dollars by "making false claims." The organization, the Save-A-Life Foundation, claimed to have taught CPR and other lifesaving techniques to millions, then closed amid controversy in July 2009.

By all accounts, it was largely funded with public money, including at least $590,000 in federal funds through DMT for CPR training by the National Guard at 33 military bases in 27 states. 

...David Van Patten, DMT president and chief executive officer, told the Herald he's "aware there may be others with issues" regarding Save-A-Life, but not his company, despite Bagwell's public claim....Van Patten called the Chicago candidate's demand for his company's financial records "absurd" because DMT is a private company. 

Bagwell said the company may be private, but the funds he's questioning were federal, so the records should be publicly disclosed.
From Fides: Faith and Money in the Bush Administration by Rick Cohen, Nonprofit Quarterly, March 21, 2006
(Some) relatively unusual “secular” entities discovered funding opportunities in the Compassion Capital grants. Assigned the function as the resource center for HHS’s faith-based grant is “Dare Mighty Things,” founded by Dave Van Patten. DMT staff and consultants boast a bevy of major faith-based assignments, including Youth for Christ/USA, Promise Keepers, the Christian Management Association’s Executive Leadership Program, the Prison Fellowship, and the DeVos Family Foundation.
Portsmouth Guard Youth ChalleNge Program gets big boost from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Foster's Daily Democrat, September 9, 2009

From US Sen. Jeanne Shaheen's FY2011 federal appropriations requests:
Dare Mighty Things, Inc./Portsmouth, NH
$2,500,000.00 National Guard Family Training Program
Media reports since November 2006 about the Save-A-Life Foundation.