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She used you. Why would you need to drop anything off at her house? Wht wouldnt these agencies come straight to you/leader?
Red flags~!
Exactly. In addition to that why did you let a new member run the show like that? This could have been nipped in the bud. Your group should have told her "this is how we do things" or "we already did a donation". You let her come in and take control and dictate how things would be done.
A couple of you need to take the 45 minute drive over to the Ronald McDonald house and see if they ever even heard of this woman.
And she home schools her kids? Has anyone ever seen these kids?
I was in a 501cs non profit and our treasurer/secretary took advantage of her position and scammed us. Never came to meetings because her kids were always sick, yeah right. Ends up she wrote all the money to her. She was found out and prosecuted by the IRS not even us. She had us totally fooled with double books.
Always check where your money/donations is going. Take it yourself to the charity, not some lady that doesn't show up for meetings.
To clarify a few things that were said in this post, the mom's group is not a rich lady group or one for specifically multiples. Its a group for getting kids out of the house and doing things for mothers who are stay at home moms. Its a nationwide program. I was invited to join one, but semi annoyed because my town has 2 of the mom groups and my friend is in group a, but i cant join group a because i'm zoned for group b. Its pretty petty if you ask me but that's off topic
I remember those days all too well; more drama per person than any soap opera I'd ever known of.
Let it go and move forward. Wasting time on figuring out "what just happened" saps energy from way more useful endeavors and will provide little to no resolution or satisfaction. Your group did some good things under slightly mysterious circumstances, it doesn't erode the integrity of the acts themselves.
Yeah, I can assure you that we are NOT rich by any means, LOL. I am going to call the RM House and the other charity and verify what was donated and in who's name. It's just the principal of the matter, you know? We had a meeting last night and all of us agreed that we handled the situations poorly, because we're innately trusting and thought that L was genuinely interested in the group- at least at first. We shouldn't have done this last charity donation but we had yet to do a service project for the year so we went ahead and participated.
And yes, she does have children, we have all met them.
Not sure what to think about your situation OP, but I wanted to comment on the person upthread who mentioned HOA and embezzlement...we had a similar issue in a neighborhood, but it was to the tune of $2000. At the end of the day no one wanted to prosecute this person, he was simply fired from his job and we moved on.
I find anytime there is a lot of money floating around, people will find ways to appropriate it.
I've never heard of MOMS clubs doing a ton of charity work. Is this common? That would have dissuaded me from joining as a young mom. I could barely stay awake between dealing with the kids, I didn't have the time/energy/inclination or funds to donate anything to anyone, or be a constant fundraiser. Whatever happened to refreshments and socializing with other moms?
Yeah, I can assure you that we are NOT rich by any means, LOL. I am going to call the RM House and the other charity and verify what was donated and in who's name. It's just the principal of the matter, you know? We had a meeting last night and all of us agreed that we handled the situations poorly, because we're innately trusting and thought that L was genuinely interested in the group- at least at first. We shouldn't have done this last charity donation but we had yet to do a service project for the year so we went ahead and participated.
And yes, she does have children, we have all met them.
Hi - Accounting 101 - Never trust. document everything. Never have one person exclusively in charge of things without 2 or 3 people cross-checking them. Receipts mandatory!
The individual MOMS clubs don't do a ton of charity work, we are just required to do one service project a year and it doesn't have to cost anything- we can just donate our time if we want. Sometimes we do more, sometimes we do the minimum amount, depending upon everyone's finances and available time.
Your group needs to get those receipts from L for the charities that she allegedly donated to for your group's reporting requirements. If she can't produce the receipts for your group then you need to contact local law enforcement for potential embezzlement charges. Ask for help from your parent organization if you run into trouble.
Years ago I was the president of a home owners association, mainly because no one else wanted to do it and the office was in disarray. I held that position for 4 years, cleaned things up with the help of a few others and then we moved. The last year that I held the post a newcomer to the neighborhood (a woman) joined the board and was excited to run for office. Seemed weird to me but whatever. About a year after we moved I got a call from the HOA treasurer looking for advice. Seems that the new president (the new woman) had gotten ahold of the HOA's checkbook (which was the domain of the treasurer and each draft needed two signatures) and had over the period between statements (4 months) written over 100K worth of checks. The new president ended up in jail and was ordered restitution but that put the HOA in a tough position having essentially had their funds drained.
The preponderance of embezzlers are female, normally young to middle aged females. Get your issue fixed and be sure that there is oversight and immediate reporting in the form of letterhead receipts for any funds or goods collected by your group. If your group lacks the will to do this, disband and form a social type of organization. Good luck.
Agree! One of my neighborhood associations (we have two, due to drama and disputes) is going through similar issues. Over $25K in missing funds and the board is full of people making secret deals and pushing their own agendas. I can't be bothered. In this situation, it's both men and women involved in the "lost" funds.
Unfortunately it's the females that are screaming at each other and making accusations. The men are quietly continuing to manipulate community members.
Not sure why the woman in the OP wanted those items. Was she selling them or just taking credit for the donations? I wouldn't make an issue out of it. Ronald McDonald House will most likely not want to get involved. Chalk it up as a lesson learned.
I don't mean to be cynical, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this woman kept all the money and donations for herself. I would demand proof or check with the charity yourself.
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