2025-03-22T16:33:33-07:00 2024-12-31 990EZ 2024-01-01 510556965 AFRICAS CHILDREN OF PURPOSE-U S A AFRI 8634582881 PO Box 44294 Washington DC 20026 Catherine Evans President 8634582881 2025-03-22 1 2024 2025-03-06 01:10:19Z X X www.africaschildrenofpurpose.org X X 73202 X 72567 0 0 487 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 148 73202 58782 0 0 169 534 58 69 59612 13590 120906 -113500 20996 X 125034 22145 0 0 0 0 125034 22145 4128 1149 120906 20996 Humanitarian and development assistance to orphans on the African continent. Basic Assistance Program. Humanitarian relief including: water, food, rent, utilities, medical care, clothing, supplies, etc. for up to 200 children, youth and staff connected to our two African partnerships. Includes support expenses to operate this program (e.g., international transfer fees, supplies, occupancy, utilities and volunteer appreciation). 31170 688 Child Sponsorship Program. This program met needs for food, medical care, education expenses, uniforms, school and personal expenses and orphanage staff salaries. Includes the support expenses to operate this program (e.g., international transfer fees, supplies, occupancy, utilities and volunteer appreciation). 13926 652 Education Program. Funding for tuition, books, school supplies, uniforms, meals and transportation, for up to 200 students. The students range from nursery school through post-secondary studies in universities. Includes support expenses to operate this program (e.g., international transfer fees, supplies, occupancy, utilities and volunteer appreciation). 11391 955 2295 Miriam M Ngundi Chair 0.15 0 0 0 Catherine L Evans President 25.00 0 0 0 Vacant Vice President 0 0 0 0 Janet S Whited Secretary 0.30 0 0 0 Etmonia R Benjamin Treasurer 0.15 0 0 0 Dorothy W Glading Trustee 0.15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 VA Catherine L Evans 11717 Route 29 Fairfax VA 22030 8634582881 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NONE NONE 1 X 114500 99614 93687 75090 72567 455458 114500 99614 93687 75090 72567 455458 9905 8504 7035 6605 5935 37984 9905 8504 7035 6605 5935 37984 417474 765 909 83 97 635 2489 765 909 83 97 635 2489 115265 100523 93770 75187 73202 457947 0.91162 0.90973 0.00544 0.00497 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED Form 990-EZ, Part I, Line 8 Description;Amount^Interest;148^Total;148^ Form 990-EZ, Part I, Line 10 Basic assistance program $31,858; Child sponsorship program $14,578; Education program $12,346. Form 990-EZ, Part I, Line 16 Description;Amount^Supplies and materials;69^Total;69^ Form 990-EZ, Part I, Line 20 Loss by theft.At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 Ms. Evans was very concerned about the welfare of her frail and elderly mother in Bethesda, Maryland and for the orphans Africa's Children of Purpose (ACP) cares for in two nations. As a result, she moved into her mother's high-rise condominium overlooking a section of the Cabin John State Park (baseball fields, a volleyball court and handball courts) in North Bethesda and she voluntarily gave up her apartment in Virginia and her small salary. The pandemic and inflation could impact sub-Saharan Africa quite seriously, and therefore ACP's partners and children, significantly. The funds that had been used to pay her minimal annual salary were now saved to meet any urgent needs for the staff and children in Africa, as well as saved for the longer-term goal to fund self-sustaining development projects to enable our African partners to generate income for the needs of the children.Throughout 2023 a white unmarked van would periodically park in the Cabin John parking lot, directly across from the high-rise condominium. In July 2024 two white vans began parking right next to each other in this lot and coming very frequently, starting on July 4th, a national holiday. One van faces the baseball fields, and the second van faces the condominium. There are no cameras in this parking lot. The company name on the vans is DCC Location Services (no business with this name is on the internet). One has a Kentucky State license plate (FOMO66), and one has a Maryland State license plate (4EB4119). No one leaves the vans unless they are using the portable restroom. When they noticed Ms. Evans recording their license plate numbers, both vans took off quickly.Criminals were able to break into Ms. Evans' WiFi connection through the router in early August, disable the anti-virus software on her Windows laptop computer and steal the funding from ACP-USA that had been saved over four years. They hacked into her e-mail accounts, ACP and personal, and her cell phone and her mother's landline phones (set of 4 handsets) were connected to the Wi-Fi and all were compromised. When she discovered ACP was a victim of theft, Ms. Evans did not have a phone or a safe computer. She took her laptop twice to Geek Squad in August, they ended up having to reinstall the operating system.Throughout August every time Ms. Evans purchased a new phone plan and either purchased a phone or was given a free phone (she tried two different phone companies) the hackers were able to compromise the phone (6 Android phones total and one landline with 4 handsets). The hackers constantly froze the settings on phones; therefore a factory reset was not possible. Ms. Evans could see searches on phones in the middle of the night (one was an online search for the website of her mother's bank). She returned the Wi-Fi router, and the internet service company ended up giving her a new router that turned out to have low security. This second router was returned and the cable and internet service disconnected and shut down. The hackers also disabled her CD player (with Bluetooth), and she threw out her mother's medical alert console out of extreme caution. They added a device to her new Norton Anti-virus software and then the software would not work properly, she could not view or update data in her new software to have it monitored. Ms. Evans was able to call and cancel the Norton subscription quickly and receive a full refund.The two vans were parked at Cabin John Park daily, Monday-Friday, for up to 7 hours a day, during the month of August while all the electronics were compromised. At the end of the month her friends purchased a secure phone for her and throughout the month they helped her daily to set up a host of new security protocols and new accounts. CRIMINAL REPORTS Immediate: Montgomery County, MD police department (in person), Corporal Rory J. Sugrue ID#2764, Criminal Report #XXX-XX-XXXX; Truist bank (in person to open a new bank account for ACP) Reza Maloomatian Shiraz, Senior Relationship Banker, phone #301-634-9970; voice mail to ACP treasurer; in person report to the manager of condominium complex; Cabin John State Park Police, called from the ice-skating rink (within walking distance), (#1-301-949-3010); and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)-a detailed online report filed in August. Ms. Evans worked from ACP's legal office address in Fairfax, Virginia as she did not have a safe computer or a phone until the end of August 2024.Ms. Evans did receive a general letter from Annabelle Gerendasy, Victim Services Unit, MCPD 1st District (Rockville) and 2nd District (Bethesda). A voice mail was left regarding the concern related to the vans outside the condominium and there was no response. Follow-up Reports: Several phone calls and one more in-person report to the county police corporal related to the vans (company name, license plate numbers, concern for other residents, etc.). The Maryland Montgomery County Police report was being transferred to the Financial Crimes Division. No one from this division has ever made any contact. A follow-up call was again made to the Cabin John Park Police from the ice-skating rink, who said the vans were utilities workers (the utility company is Pepco), and the condo manager was updated. A second follow-up report was filed online with the FBI (IC3) on September 2, 2024. Ms. Evans listed her new secure phone number for this second report. A report was also filed online with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on September 2, 2024, Report #XXX-XX-XXXX. Ms. Evans has never been contacted by any law enforcement agency, other than the one standard letter mentioned, and she has provided ACP's phone number, her secure personal phone number, work and mailing addresses. Three separate board meetings were held for ACP's charities in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.A. on November 23, 2024. An eight-page detailed memorandum of this criminal situation and the recovery was given to all trustees for the three charities. RECOVERY At her own expense Ms. Evans worked daily with a personal friend's assistance, to purchase new security software and to set up an entirely new online system with a new company. Ms. Evans worked very long hours for over four months to ensure every single account for Africa's Children of Purpose-U.S.A. was reviewed, updated as needed and secured. All accounts have new usernames and complex passwords. All accounts have two-factor authentication (2FA), new security questions and answers and some accounts are completely locked down. ACP was already using e-mail that is secure and encrypted. All e-mail accounts have new complex passwords, two-factor authentication, recovery e-mails, recovery codes, and recovery phrases. The ACP phone was not located in the condo and was never compromised. It has anti-virus software installed, it is not used on the internet and has never displayed any security issues. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Hot Spot connections are always turned off. Scans are completed regularly, and it has 24/7 threat protection. It is stored in Airplane mode and shut off. CURRENT SITUATION Due to extensive work for four-and-a-half months in 2024 ACP never suffered any identity theft and there has not been any secondary hacking. However, the vans continue to park in Cabin John Park. Sometimes one or two of the vans labeled DCC Location Services, are present for part of the day or all day, at times as early as 7:30 a.m. On other days large, unmarked vans are also present, a few times 3-4 vans at one time for an hour or two. On Cyber Monday in 2024 a very large van was in the park, directly opposite the building. In January 2025 an elderly neighbor came over terrified and shaking with her phone as she had her bank account opened on her phone, and someone was on the phone instructing her not to tell anyone. Ms. Evans had her hang up, drove her to Truist, and fortunately her contact with Truist, Mr. Shiraz, was able to secure her account prior to funds being stolen. Even the day prior to this report being filed, the two vans were parked next to each other in Cabin John Park for six hours. Thankfully, the children in Africa have never suffered as new donations have been meeting their needs every month. We look forward to the day when a criminal investigation will be initiated and the funds that belong to the charity and these precious children, who have lost their parents through abandonment, violence and/or natural death, will be returned in full. Form 990-EZ, Part II, Line 26 Description;EOY Amount^Donations in Advance;1149^Total;1149^