Paul KeenanDonors assure ‘continued support’
Two leading Catholic-founded charities have reported that the widely reported downturn in donations has not affected them.
In fact, as donors stayed away from many charities over the Christmas period in the light of revelations around the Central Remedial Clinic, both the Capuchin Day Centre and the Peter McVerry Trust reported increased donations.
“The issue made no difference to the donations to the Capuchin Day Centre,” said founder Br Kevin Crowley, who described the level of food and money donations over Christmas as “unbelievable”.
His words were echoed by Fr Peter McVerry who said of the homeless Trust bearing his name, “we were not impacted and we exceeded our targets for 2013”.
A spokesperson for the Peter McVerry Trust told The Irish Catholic this week that donations over Christmas were accompanied by letters assuring Fr Peter of continued support; Br Kevin, likewise, received cards and letters revealing that donors have separated the day centre from the suspicion shown to others in the charity sector. At a time when some in the sector are experiencing donor decreases in excess of 40%, this support for both Br Kevin and Fr Peter is significant in terms of the public’s perceptions of charitable bodies deemed ‘trustworthy’.
Asked to account for the continued good will, Br Kevin said “people see what we do and the results. Every penny we get goes towards the people we help and people know that.”
For his part, Fr Peter said “the relationship between a charity and the public must be one of trust and I think the Trust has that.” Further, he pointed out that “all our financial information is on our website. Every charity should do that.”
Fr Peter, who like Br Kevin, does not draw a salary for his work, insisted that “a regulator now needs to be appointed for the charity sector”.
