KALAMAZOO, MI — One day after being put on blast by well-known actor LeVar Burton, the Rev. William Stein has removed Burton’s name from a library that he had begun fundraising efforts for.
The actor had learned of plans for a LeVar Burton Library in Kalamazoo that was using an image taken from his website and asking for donations and tweeted out Tuesday that he was in no way affiliated with it.
LeVar Burton tweeted from his official account shortly after noon Tuesday, July 5, that the since-deleted account for the LeVar Burton Library, which was asking for tax-deductible donations to build the library in his name was “clearly a scam,” while asking for help in reporting the account.
Related: LeVar Burton calls out Michigan pastor for using his name on nonprofit venture
The Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive spoke with Stein Tuesday, who said he and the board of directors for his nonprofit, Broncos Kitchen Foundation, had reached out to Burton numerous times through his website and tweeted to him while in the process of establishing the new nonprofit named after the actor, but never received a response from Burton or any member of his team.
“This is not a scam,” Stein said Tuesday. “We wouldn’t have reported (the nonprofit) to the state of Michigan and we wouldn’t have placed the endorsement from the state’s department of licensing and regulatory affairs online (on twitter) if it were. We put that online to help establish credibility and we hope to hear back from…
