WE Charity Central U.S. Office 300 W. Adams, Suite 1000 Chicago, Illinois
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WE Charity March 26, 2021 Central U.S. Office Via Email and U.S. Mail – Certified 300 W. Adams, Suite 1000 Chicago, Illinois 60606 WE Charity Charity International Office 339 Queen St. E. Toronto, Ontario M5A 1S9 Canada Re: Demand prior to litigation To WE Charity: The recent revelation that WE Charity (“WE”) procured Reed Cowan’s substantial donations of time and money through fraudulent means is the basis for this demand. Please be advised that Mr. Cowan has retained the law firm of Reid Rubinstein & Bogatz to represent him in various disputes related to WE’s fraud. At the heart of this demand is a promise Mr. Cowan made years ago—the same promise that brought him to WE in 2006: Wesley Cowan shall have a legacy to his name. Though you are undoubtedly already aware of Mr. Cowan, the trauma that brought him to you, and his various donations to your organization, the following factual history is the basis for Mr. Cowan’s demands. Background1 Following the April 2006 accident that tragically took his four-year old son, Reed Cowan suffered grief and clinically diagnosed trauma as only a parent who has lost a child can comprehend. In the dark days that followed tragedy, Mr. Cowan saw Craig Kielburger’s appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show wherein Mr. Kielburger’s story and work building schools in Kenya resulting in Oprah committing to build 100 schools in Kenya for Mr. Kielburger’s organization, Free the Children (now known as WE Charities following a 1 In memory of his son, Wesley, Mr. Cowan shares his story of tragedy, grief, and the process of turning pain into purpose through WE’s brick-by-brick program with the world. “The Atrophy of Prolonged Pain and How a Father's Choice Changed Lives”, Reed Cowan, Tedx Talks, April 8, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhUU2dwpr1E. March 26, 2021 Page 2 of 9 rebranding2). From this appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Mr. Cowan decided to take Mr. Kielburger’s “brick-by-brick” campaign as a mission, and contacted WE’s Executive Director, Dalal Al-Waheidi inquiring how he could build a school in Kenya as a way of turning pain into purpose. In the earliest of several communications, Ms. Waheidi learned of Mr. Cowan’s notoriety as a television anchor in Salt Lake City and his highly visible status as the main stage speaker and producer for Utah’s youth POWER TOUR, which was co- created with Utah First Lady Mary Kaye Huntsman, daughter in law to the billionaire Huntsman family. It was Ms. Waheidi’s idea and offer that for every $10,000 USD Mr. Cowan raised, WE would build a school bearing Wesley Cowan’s name. After having read Wesley’s obituary, Ms. Waheidi suggested that each and every plaque should include Wesley’s motto, “Be Happy Every Day.” Mr. Cowan took assurances of Ms. Waheidi that such schools would not only be built and branded with Wesley’s name and motto, but also exist in perpetuity, owned and controlled by WE. Quickly, Mr. Cowan began the work of raising the $10,000 USD it would take to open a school in Kenya on the one-year anniversary of Wesley’s April 23rd death. Having accepted WE’s challenge, Mr. Cowan received marketing materials outlining the “brick-by-brick” campaigns and how to promote and distribute the campaign to solicit donations. Congruent with those materials was Ms. Waheidi’s explanation to Mr. Cowan that no formal organization of non-profit would be necessary, as each donor would be able to donate directly to WE in Wesley’s name and that those contributions would be attributed to Mr. Cowan’s brick-by-brick campaign. It is no presumption that WE wanted access to the Huntsman family, as the various communications between your organization and Mr. Cowan repeatedly requested Mr. Cowan to more-deeply engage Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, his wife, and the Huntsman family generally for further fundraising. In addition to Mr. Cowan’s televised 2006 Power Tour speech to tens of thousands of Utah youth, Mr. Cowan undertook fundraising efforts through various means. These included Pennies for Pencils campaigns and personal donations from the patients and staff at Lifecare Centers of America. While these efforts of fundraising were considerable, Mr. Cowan desired to harness his considerable political and social connections to organize a charity event in Salt Lake City to solicit notable donors and high-dollar donations. In preparing for this event, staff at Utah’s IJ and Jeanne Wagner Jewish Community Center received all of WE’s brick- by-brick marketing materials for promotion and duplication, along with language provided by Ms. Waheidi about language to use directing donors to write checks to the charity instead of Mr. Cowan’s Wesley Smiles Coalition. 2 For the purposes of this letter, Free the Children/WE Charities will be referred to as solely its current name, WE Charity (“WE”). March 26, 2021 Page 3 of 9 As evidenced by television news coverage on KTVX and KUTV in Salt Lake city, Wesley Smiles Coalition’s story and mission were compelling, and as a result, the event gained traction and drew the national spotlight, such that WE’s founder Craig “Kielburger interrupted a trip to India with former President Bill Clinton to speak at the event.”3 Mr. Kielburger traveled to Salt Lake City, stayed in a hotel room paid for by Mr. Cowan, and attended two fundraisers, doing press interviews on multiple television stations in Salt Lake City about his presence in Utah and WE’s brick-by-brick campaign. In addition to his message about WE’s brick-by-brick campaigns, Mr. Kielburger publicly supported Mr. Cowan’s goal of raising $10,000 to build a school in Kenya in Wesley’s name on the one year anniversary of his death. While WE has failed to provide Mr. Cowan a list of donors incident to his 2006/2007 fundraising, WE disclosed that the Salt Lake City fundraising raised $70,046 USD—seven times the original goal of $10,000 for one school building in Kenya. The Wesley Smiles Coalition had greatly exceeded its goal and was set to open two schools in Wesley’s name in April of 2007. The Documentary Simultaneous to Mr. Cowan and his family preparing to travel to Kenya to open a school in Wesley’s name on the one-year anniversary of Wesley’s death, Mr. Cowan sold his home and used the proceeds to begin production on a documentary to tell the story of Wesley’s death and how Craig Kielburger and WE’s brick-by-brick program gave Mr. Cowan and thousands of donors an outlet to turn tragedy into triumph and pain into purpose. Unsure if WE would allow a documentary team to participate in the travel and ceremonies, Mr. Cowan discussed the matter with WE’s leadership (Ms. Waheidi and Roxanne Joyal) and reached an agreement: WE would give Mr. Cowan full access and permission to film at all WE schools in Kenya and with all staff, and in exchange Mr. Cowan would use his documentary to promote other fundraising efforts for WE. At great expense, Mr. Cowan purchased the necessary equipment and hired a crew to embark with him to Kenya for the grand opening of Wesley’s school. The school opened with great fanfare from the locals, and Mr. Cowan, there with his spouse and filmed by the documentary crew, knew he had created a sacred place in which he could fortify when grief again began to overwhelm him. As explicitly promised by WE Charity at every level of its organization from Craig Kielburger, Dalal Al-Waheidi, and Roxanne Joyal; to WE’s in-country staff, this fortification was a special place that would forever bear the name of his son, Wesley Cowan. The Wesley Cowan school is so sacred a 3 See “Dad dedicating schools built in honor of his son”, Pat Reavy, Deseret News (Apr. 21, 2007), https://www.deseret.com/2007/4/21/20014359/dad-dedicating-schools-built-in-honor-of-his-son#reed-cowan- packs-for-his-trip-to-kenya-to-dedicate-two-schools-he-raised-the-money-to-build-the-schools-in-memory-of- his-son-wesley-who-died-a-year-ago. March 26, 2021 Page 4 of 9 place for Mr. Cowan that it has been a central tool for his doctors in treating his post-traumatic stress disorder, which stems from Wesley’s death. Spencer West Following Mr. Cowan’s successful first year of fundraising and use of documentary video footage, Mr. Cowan’s story featured on television in Miami to raise more money, necessitating another trip to Kenya in 2008, this time accompanied by several of his friends and family. Of those in attendance was the godfather of Mr. Cowan’s children, Spencer West. Mr. West is a double amputee who walks on his hands. During this trip, WE Kenya Project Director Robin Wiszowaty identified Mr. West’s potential as a main-stage speaker for WE and advocated WE hire Spencer to walk on his hands on stages all over the world, telling the story of his school building trip connected to Reed and Wesley Cowan, as told in Mr. West’s WE Charity promotional book, Standing Tall. WE cast Mr. West as a main-stage speaker with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prince Harry, and other major world leaders and celebrities, raising untold amounts of money. One of the larger campaigns WE used Mr. West for was his climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money and show children everywhere that they could “redefine their possible.” While Spencer West generated over $500,000 in donations for WE by the time he completed his summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in September of 2014, the real value WE received was the international notoriety that Mr.