[Veggiepatch]

Misuse of Charities​

MISUSE OF CHARITABLE ORGANISTIONS BY THE SOME SECTIONS OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC

DISCLAIMER: THIS ARTICLE MAY BE CONSTRUED AS BEING RACIST. HOWEVER, ITS CONTENT IS BASED ON FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS BY THE AUTHOR OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS

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In recent times, the average Australian has been hit hard by the rise of the daily cost of Iving through massive increases in the cost of food, housing, fuel, services, insurance and other commodities. Those feeling the most hardship is the most vulnerable – the elderly, the homeless, the unemployed, the disabled, refugees and those on low incomes. These are the target groups intended to receive financial and associated assistance through charities, generally run by church groups and not-for-profit organisations.

However, a worrying trend is emerging – those who appear to be well off are seeking out and obtaining handouts from charities. While there is little or no research conducted on this subject, I feel compelled to raise awareness of the situation and act accordingly for an equitable charity process. In other words, the abovementioned disadvantaged groups should be given priority over others who are less in need.

Specifically, in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, numerous charities conduct a service that supply the general public with goods to assist them to make ends meet on a weekly basis. As the old saying goes, every little bit helps.

As the number of “mouths to feed” increases, the quantity of food and related items decreases for each individual and their families, whether they are legitimate or not.

The huge majority of charity recipients are women, and of those women, they are generally of Muslim origin. This is of no concern, however a fair proportion of these women are seen parking their cars, some of which are luxury BMWs and Mercedes attracting a new purchase price of that approaching $200,000! Then they queue up chatting on their top of the range iPhones worth $2000. With such apparent wealth, do these people deserve charity handouts when it is obvious that paying for food is well within their means?

What are your views on this? Would the implementation of a system where the presentation of a concession card is mandatory to receive such benefits? How about accompanying photo identification such as a driver’s licence or proof of age card to detect fraud by borrowing a friend’s or relative’s card? At least this would provide the individual some legitimacy when obtaining these benefits. As it is, some orgainisations ask for your name, but unfortunately, verification is not part of the process.