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The Bridge Leadership FoundationInformation and Alerts
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On January 7, 2019 in response to BBB Scam Tracker reports and consumer complaints, BBB opened an investigation into The Bridge Leadership Foundation. Consumers allege that The Bridge Leadership Foundation and it's principal, Chris Davis, had organized a "cultural exchange program" which organized Indianapolis area students and chaperones to take educational trips to foreign countries. Per consumers, Mr. Davis and The Bridge Leadership Foundation represented the trips as being partially funded by corporate sponsors. Consumers allege that this funding never materialized, and that teachers and parents ultimately paid the bill every aspect of the trip with a promise of reimbursement from Mr. Davis. Consumers claim they were never reimbursed.
During BBB's investigation The Bridge Leadership Foundation's official website, www.thebridgeelf.org, was reviewed by BBB serving Central Indiana staff. During this review, BBB found that The Bridge was representing the organization as operating a literacy program called "Building Bridges With Books" that ostensibly involved volunteers reading to children in Indianapolis Public Schools. The Bridge claimed to have official relationships with seventeen different "partner schools" and as also possessing "cause related partnerships with NCAA Team Works and Scholastic Books!" Although representing themselves as having sponsorship that "allow us to provide books to every student in our program", Mr. Davis and The Bridge Leadership Foundation solicited for donations on this web page seeking support for their literacy program. A "DONATE NOW" button leads consumers to a PayPal account.
BBB's investigators attempted to verify the existence of the Bridge's partnerships with Indianapolis Public Schools as well as Scholastic and the NCAA. BBB was unable to verify any the Bridge's advertised partnerships. BBB serving Central Indiana requested that The Bridge Leadership Foundation substantiate their advertised relationships. Additionally, due to The Bridge Leadership Foundation's use of a .org web domain, a trade name that includes the term "foundation", and their active solicitations for "donations", BBB requested that The Bridge Leadership Foundation substantiate its status as a 501 c(3) tax-exempt organization. BBB was unable to locate an IRS 501 c(3) determination letter or a Form 990.
The requests for substantiation were based on the BBB Code of Advertising - Section 1, Basic Principles. As of January 29, 2019, the Bridge Leadership Foundation has not responded to BBB's requests. The case has been closed as unsubstantiated.
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