I have served on the Board of the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation for nearly thirty years. Our most visible project is our annual Burn Camp for Children but that is only part of the story. We have supported the Burn Unit at Bridgeport Hospital, conducted burn prevention education for children and adults and have enjoyed the support of hundreds of volunteers who annually donate thousands of their hours to serve the thousands of burn survivors, students, professionals, the wider community and their families throughout the years. To coordinate this effort we operate with only two paid staff members, an Executive Director and Secretary, without whom the Foundation would not operate.

As a member of the Board for a number of years and parent of a child who attended the camp for 2 summers, it is a pleasure to continue to work with an organization that is moving forward during these difficult economic times for non-profits. The Board continues to address and then readdress all avenues of operations and fund raising to make the children's burn camp a success for these severely burned children each and every summer.

I have been involved with this organization for almost 10 years. The all volunteer board is one of the most sincere and committed organizations I have been affiliated with. I have also seen first hand how very carefully the organization spends. I have also seen first hand the results of the great work done at the Childrens' Burn Camp. My daughter, is a burn survivor. The opportunity for her to spend some time with other kids, and councilors who have gone through the same ordeal is truly priceless. The concept is so simple, it is refreshing. These kids have really had some pretty hard times, and the camp is such a wonderful place for them to get away from the hard times, and see that just because a bad thing happened to them, it does not mean they will have a bad life.

Our event contributed nearly 400,000 over 29 years. Since new leadership took over about 5 years ago they have steadily reduced their net assets with a reduction of about 50% over the last 3 years. Last year the ratio of salaries and office expenses to what they give to the camp was nearly 97% salary and office expense. A great cause but awful management with no changes in sight. We had to leave them. The 990's over the last years explain the problem.