Friday, May 11, 2007

There Are Still Some Good People Left in the World!

This afternoon, I went into the Boonton, NJ Post Office to mail some letters. After I entered, I witnessed a very rude and obnoxious customer giving a hard time to the postal clerk who was waiting on him.

I was amazed by how well this postal clerk interacted with this customer. The clerk kept his cool and was very professional, even when he encountered insulting and condescending comments. I said to myself, "Now this is a guy who has some class and personal integrity!" That postal clerk was Vincent DeCristofaro.

Vincent and I started talking, and I explained that I was mailing letters in support of my fight against YP.Corp, a company that added a charge to my home phone bill, without my request, knowledge, or consent. In December of 2006, YP.Corp agreed to issue $2 million in refunds, after settling in court, with 34 State Attorneys General for improper business practices.

I informed Vincent about "cramming", which is a form of telephone fraud. I told him that many innocent people and groups - including charities, churches, schools, and non-profit organizations - are being victimized by this unethical business practice. It doesn't get much sleazier than to improperly take money from churches, schools, and charities!

Vincent informed me that he and a group of Italian friends recently started a non-profit organization called Vero Amici - which means "True Friends" in Italian. This group, designated as a 501(c), raises money for needy people and causes, including:
  • Special needs children and adults
  • Single mothers
I was not surprised that an individual who would have the character to deal so well with a rude customer, would also be actively involved in charity work. It helped to reaffirm my faith in humanity!

Vincent informed me that almost 100% of the money raised by Vero Amici goes towards the causes that they support - a very impressive figure! I don't contribute to the large corporate charities because so much of the money raised goes towards overhead.

I encourage you to check out Vero Amici and to support their work. Kudos to you Vincent!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thats true there still are some good people in this world. my brother lost his bag which contained 2 new phones as well as an ipod, house keys and all his I.D. i was suprised when we got a phone call from the person who found his bag and they gave us their address to pick up his bags. this has proved to me that there are some good people in this world!