"Without a 401c3 to offer tax receipts, you can't do much."

Well, that is not quite the case. First, it is 501(c)(3). Second, to set
up a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS requires an multipage application,
someone who understands dozens of pages of legaleze and about $500 cash in
application fee. For a 15 year old kid, that is not practical.

There are some exemptions allowed by the IRS, if the annual gross income is
less than $5,000, if they operate as a 501(c)(3) by having a charter,
constitution or bylaws that specifies that they follow the guidelines of the
rules and that if they disband the proceeds go to a charitable organization.
However, that is even too complicated. I had trouble convincing the local
county counsel and a large law firm that it could be done, because they did
not want to read all of the fine print in the rules.

The simpler solution is to just do as Kap did and ask for some equipment, or
to develop fund raising events to raise the money. Old rigs are available
for $50 on up and there are a number of hams who would be glad to donate old
ham equipment to someone starting out - even without a deduction. Heck,
donating a $50 radio and writing it off as a charitable donation only saves
you the average ham about $15 and if you cannot donate $15 to get a kid
started, you may be hard up.

The question remains: Who is Kap and how legitimate is his request. Local
ham clubs should be a good start and usually ham equipment springs out of
the woodwork without too much problem.

Recently, someone gave me a Kenwood TS-520. I checked it out, changed the
knobs so it could be used by someone blind, then gave it to him. I also got
a Kenwood TR-7400 with a bad display. Worked fine and the blind ham who got
it did not care a hoot about the bad display.

Our radio club used to have car washes to raise money for the club station.
Bought an old BC-669 transceiver and got on 75 meter phone. What a hoot!
Most of us grew up and became adults.

73, Colin K7FM