Truth in fundraising

I don’t know if it’s the same in other countries, but charities in Australia have turned into lucrative businesses that have little to do with supporting the cause they are fundraising for.

The other morning, I received an email from our past service provider requesting that my hubby and I donate to their fundraising day.

The email said –

Your business can make a small investment now that will have a big return on the lives of children and adults with disabilities, by simply donating to Wheel Make a Change.

At seven months old, Finley was diagnosed with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which means he can’t get around without a wheelchair or walker, and can’t speak at all – he can only make sounds. For Finley, communicating even his most basic needs to his family is a daily struggle.

Finley’s mother Amanda will never hear Finley say “I love you, Mum,” but is hopeful that purchasing a new speech device, called a Liberator, will finally give him the freedom to express himself. There are dozens of children just like Finley who urgently need life-changing services, therapy and equipment, but the need is always greater than the resources we have to meet it. Click here to take a glimpse into the life of the Coll family.

So here’s how you and your team can help. On Friday, 14 August, 25 business executives from companies like Echo Entertainment Group and Queensland Urban Utilities will be locking themselves into gondolas on the Wheel of Brisbane for 30 minutes, where they’ll dial their networks to frantically raise funds in a race against time and each other. They’ve been working hard fundraising in the lead up to help us reach our target of $200,000.

Your company, can make a real difference and show they care by simply donating to the event.

A gift of $542 purchases an iPad to help a child learn to read, write and communicate. A donation of $1,395 will equip a child with an iPad with the Proloquo2Go speech application, which Finley is using. A Liberator costs $5,995.

 

Heart wrenching stuff. Who wouldn’t want to help Finley tell his Mum “I love you”?

Only problem is, this service provider doesn’t provide iPads or communication devices to children with cerebral palsy. At best, they set up a trial and help with the paperwork for funding from others who will provide it or otherwise the family pays for it themselves (like we do). This goes completely against what they wrote in the email. If I was to donate $542, I would expect that money is going to buy a child with cerebral palsy an iPad.

And that’s where I would be wrong.

I wrote to the service provider to confirm what they did offer. They offer assistance with setting up a communication board. And they also have an incredibly popular camp for children where communication is the focus. But they don’t provide iPads. Particularly ones with Proloquo2Go on them. And definitely no Liberators.

So have they stretched the truth or told a straight out lie? If they told the truth – that the money goes to putting on these camps and communication boards – would that result in less money being donated?

I don’t know. But what I do know is that what they are doing is wrong.

People with disabilities are being exploited. They are exploited and abused in institutional settings. They are discriminated against at school, in the workplace and through lack of access to the community. Even the services set up to assist them are exploiting them through discriminatory and patronising language, lack of real services and obtaining funds through misleading means – and those funds being used overwhelmingly on administration and commissions.

It’s got to stop.

I am reminded that there cannot be a way forward without those advocates who have disabilities leading the way.  And I’m ready to stand behind them.  Change cannot come soon enough.