The Completionist’s charity accused of withholding over $600K in donations

Jake Nichols

  ❘   Published: 2023-11-13T23:37:53  ❘   Updated: 2023-11-13T23:38:05

Popular YouTuber The Completionist’s charity, The Open Hand Foundation, has been accused of holding back more than $600,000 in dementia research funds.

The Open Hand Foundation, founded by Jirard Khalil – the content creator behind the popular YouTube channel The Completionist – and his family, have been accused of not contributing any of the funds it raised to any organizations for dementia research despite claiming to do so.

The accusations are coming from all angles as YouTubers, including Karl Jobst and SomeOrdinaryGamers, have uploaded detailed breakdowns of the situation after researching and communicating with the Open Hand Foundation.

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The foundation, which officially became a non-profit organization in 2014, reportedly raised over $600,000, but this money is allegedly still sitting in their bank account.

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Jobst, in a breakdown video titled “This Charity Is Lying To You,” explained that according to the foundation’s tax filings, they received significant contributions each year, deducted some expenses, and then added the remaining cash to their existing stockpile, which now totals $655,000.

“For the past ten years, they have raised over $600,000, and it’s all just sitting in their bank account despite Open Hand saying the money goes to help fund research, and despite the fact that everyone believes their money is going to a worthwhile cause, this is simply not the case,” Jobst states.

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Despite claims on their website and by Khalil that the foundation supports various organizations, including the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), there is allegedly no record that a single dollar has been dispersed to any charity or research organization.

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“In 10 years of filings, they have not dispersed a single dollar to anyone,” Jobst claimed. “They have kept everything for themselves.”

Jobst explained seeming discrepancies, such as a quote on the Open Hand Foundation’s website from David Kessler, which states, “I am deeply grateful for your recent gift to UCSF School of Medicine. Your support of Frontotemporal Dementia and related degenerative diseases research is invaluable.”

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Yet, as Jobst points out, Kessler was fired from his role as dean at UCSF in 2007, a full seven years before the Open Hand Foundation was registered as a non-profit, leading many to wonder how or why the quote is even on the foundation’s website.

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Baffled by the findings, Jobst questioned the Open Hand Foundation directly to learn more about the situation.

A response from Jacque Khalil, Jirard’s brother, claims that before their official registration as a foundation, they “donated body parts for research and made financial contributions to an institution that, in our view, made insufficient progress.” There is no record of any disbursement of funds, however.

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As Jobst states, “Essentially, Open Hand is claiming that because they made donations before they were registered in 2014, which we cannot confirm because it wasn’t public at the time, this means it is acceptable to not pass along of the money that the public has given them until they find someone they deem worthy.”

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Jobst and Mutahar from SomeOrdinaryGamers spoke with Jirard Khalil, who claimed he was unaware until 2021 that the funds had not been forwarded to any organizations and has since been trying to find a place to send the money.

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And that leads to the important question of whether the money is still there, to which Jobst added, “Jirard assures us they still have the full amount of money and are looking to donate it as soon as possible… however, due to Open Hand’s past dishonesty, I think we do need concrete proof of this donation when it happens.”

Jirard or the Open Hand Foundation is yet to publicly comment on the allegations.

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