Carefulmom and Babyjakesmom - just wanted to let you know our experience with Southwest since it was brought up. Southwest will accomodate a PA person when making reservations (they require a letter from the allergist discussing the allergy). However, it is VERY IMPORTANT to mention it to the head flight attendant when boarding. When we boarded, I confirmed with the head attendant that no peanuts were being served and she didn't know anything about it. However, she did say that she would not serve the peanuts (after I showed her our letter from the allergist). Because she wasn't warned by the reservationist ahead of time, no snacks were served at all because they didn't have enough of any other snack to serve(which was a shame for everyone else - but good for us - and thankfully, no one complained about it). Also, the floor was COVERED with peanuts from previous flights. They apparently do not clean the planes between flights. I had to wipe down everything and pray that my son would not have a reaction to any peanut dust in the air (which he has in the past).
As for FAAN, I'm glad they are out there providing good information. Yet, I think it is totally unnecessary for someone working for a non-profit to be making that kind of money. A lot of that money could be going to research for a vaccine rather than their pocketbooks. I think it is such a shame!

Thanks for the warning aabout Southwest. When we flew, they told me when I made my reservation to tell the agent on check in, so I did. That gave them ample time to find another snack to serve. However peanut crumbs on the floor is terrible. Maybe if you tell the gate agent as we did, maybe they make a point of cleaning the plane better? I told the gate agent about twenty minutes before boarding, so maybe that helped or maybe we just got lucky. We only flew them once. Just wondering if anyone else with a PA child has flown Southwest and what was your experience?

$250,000 is pocket change compared to what most CEO'a make and that is what the Furlong's are. It takes great organizational and leadership skills to pull together something like they have done. I am sure if they wanted to leave FA and go to a Fortune 500 company they could make 10x what they make now. And if you think they make a large salary taken from donations, check the salaries of United Way and Red Cross bigwigs.

Carefulmom - I failed to mention that we did remind the gate agent upon check-in that we had requested a peanut-free flight. We checked in about 1 1/2 hours before the flight per their request (thus, they had ample time to get another snack on board, but didn't). I'm glad your flight went smoothly, though.

Well, that certainly is disheartening. When I get around to it, I think I`ll start a thread on airlines (if there isn`t one already) and see what other people`s experiences have been.

About the salary: You really need to get all the facts before you insinuate that someone is doing something unethical. To have a fair debate you would have to know the going rate for CEOs in non-profits in that area of the country. I mean, believe me, I *wish* I made that kind of money. I wish daycare providers were paid the same as surgeons, & that teachers were paid as much lawyers, but that is not reality.
The reality is that CEOs generally make good money & have *tons* of responsibility to go with it. And, managing people is NOT a fun job. I really do not know if this is a fair salary, but let's be fair to these people, & get the facts before we just start slamming them.
I don't mean to sound too harsh but I think we have a responsibility to be fair to people we are commenting on.
Amy

I have to agree...I've been thinking about this one for several days and I think their salaries are probably right in there for what they do.
My boss is a corporate VP of communications for a Fortune 100 company and she makes about $125K plus perks. That's just for managing a department of 25 and a budget of $2M...she didn't have to start it all up!
Personally, I'm happy to send in my $30 a year. Based on some of the other NFPs I've seen, it could be run a whole lot worse!

Their salary may be in line with other charities, but I don't think that makes it right. The same could be said for the multimillion dollar salaries of sports figures. Personally, I couldn't sleep at night knowing that I was making that kind of money when my organization is supposed to be helping people who sometimes don't even have a home (not talking about faan here, but other ones like united way and red cross-which I won't donate to either one, btw). Anyway, I'm sure the red cross and the united way help even the people who don't send in $30 per year.
Gale

According to a popular online salary calculator ([url]http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html[/url]) which calculates how much you would need to make in one city to maintain a certain lifestyle you had or have in another city, $125,000 is about equal to $81,000 in Cincinnati (where I work). To me, that seems pretty reasonable compensation for running a national organization, whether you agree with its positions or not.

There are other threads in this Main Discussion Forum which also deal with how FAAN distributes its donations and corporate funding. For example, the Peanut Council gave Anne Furlong tens of thousands of dollars to prove that peanut bans in schools don't work. (!!!) Just type Anne's name into PA.Com's search engine - or type FAAN in - one way or another, you'll get lots of info.
Actually, if we keep discussing this heatedly enough, FAAN itself might even pop in to post a rebuttal. FAAN wagged its finger at PA.Com members last spring for daring to discuss distribution of funding, so perhaps they'll provide another chastisment in the near future.
Having said that, charitable donations going to a non-profit organization still MUST cover administrative expenses and pay cheques, or people won't staff it. A lot of people (not referring to anyone in this thread in particular!) think that a charity is staffed by volunteers and is supplied with donated office needs, etc. Charities and other non-profit orgs. have closed down, or been threatened with closure, due to lack of donations.
One such groups threatened is one I belong to - ADDO (Attention Deficit Disorder Organization) - to help me deal with my eldest child's ADD. This absolutely fantastic group has literally no funding, so it may fall apart. What an absolute tragedy and loss that would be to the Ontario ADD/ADHD community! We need as much support for brain disorders as we do for body disorders. I would hate to see such a thing happen to FAAN - although I disagree in principle with many of their policies, I can't discount the awareness they have raised on our behalf.
Carolyn