ESPN conducted its “Outside The Lines” investigation of more than a hundred charities attached to top athletes, including Odom.
It uncovered 115 of these high-profile charities were not passing out raised profits effectively or properly, with more than 74 percent not operating under standards upheld by the Better Business Bureau and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
According to ESPN, in the case of Odom, 33, eight years of tax records revealed that his charity, Cathy’s Kids – named in honor his late mother who died of stomach cancer – has not given any money to cancer-related causes since its creation in 2004, despite raising an estimated a whopping $2.2 million.
In addition, the investigation says it found the charity primarily existed to finance two elite youth basketball travel teams. Of the $2.2 million raised by the charity, ESPN reports that at least 60 percent — $1.3 million — went to those AAU teams.
Shockingly, the charity paid only one executive — Jerry DeGregorio, Odom’s high school coach and best man in his wedding to Kardashian, says the report. DeGregorio — now an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors — was secretary of Cathy’s Kids from 2004 through 2011, for which he was paid a median annual salary of about $72,000, while the charity operated at a loss since its creation.
ESPN reports that its 2011 tax returns show Cathy’s Kids is $256,000 in debt, mostly due to a loan Odom made to the charity, according to his business manager Lester Knispel, who is also the charity’s treasurer.
When approached in a locker room by “Outside the Lines,” Odom responded to the charity’s spending habits by saying, “It’s my money.”
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