Before everyone starts sending money to Reach Out World Wide, Paul Walker’s charity, you might want to rethink it and send the money in his name to the Red Cross. Reach Out World Wide’s two tax filings, for 2010 and 2011, aren’t that encouraging.
It’s a little unclear how ROWW was doing business since Walker did go on rescue missions to the Philippines in 2011, and helped out after disasters in Chile and Oklahoma. There are seven videos posted to YouTube showing him and his “team” on the ground.
In 2011, according to IRS documents scanned a year ago into their system by Guide Star, Reach Out World Wide had $83,783 in expenses. Only $7,085 of that was for “Rescue Equipment.” They spent $28,500 on “rent, parking and utilities.”
In fact, ROWW in its second year of operation was wobbly. They had received $607,776 in securities from Always Evolving, the company run by Roger Rodas, the race car driver who was killed with Walker last week in the terrible accident. But the reality was just over $3,744 in cash on hand.
There was no donation from Walker, but he may have just been spending his own cash without notating it. The 2012 tax filing, which still hasn’t been posted, may reveal more details.
