Calls for transparency as Neighbours in Need accused of misusing donations

The basement of Peggy Terry's home in the west end of St. John's was stocked Wednesday morning — from floor to ceiling — with donations from Neighbours in Need, a group on Facebook that organized and accepted donations for people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cans and boxes of donated food line the walls on black plastic shelves, and more are piled up in reusable grocery bags filling spaces on the floor.

In the next room, there are more donations piled up: half a dozen boxes with shoes, heated blankets, an electric razor, clothes, some school supplies and other items.  

Terry's home was a hub where many donations and orders for the group were delivered.

Courtney Barber, who is from Newfoundland and Labrador but lives in Alberta, started the group on Facebook in January 2020, during a brutal winter storm that quickly became known as Snowmageddon. 

When stores were unable to open for days in a row, it was a way for neighbours in the St. John's area to connect and help one another after the blizzard, with everything from infant formula, to food, shoveling and repairs. 

Since then, the group — which has grown to more than 32,000 members — has remained an online forum where people can ask for items they need and others can donate. That was until the group was temporarily deactivated on Nov. 8. 

The group is mired in controversy on social media after allegations surfaced about donations being stockpiled and concerns about transparency around monetary donations, with others alleging they asked for help but were turned down.  

The group has also been entangled in a privacy breach involving the Single Parents Association of Newfoundland and Labrador's Christmas Magic program.   

This month alone, members in the Neighbours in Need group have requested cat litter, clothing, Christmas gifts and food, while others have offered up children's toys, winter hats and baby clothing.

"This page is strictly for helping your neighbours with any resources you may have to offer," reads a description on the group's Facebook page.

"The page is not [intended] for any person(s) to profit from another," it says. 

However, the group did request that monetary donations go to a single email: [email protected].

Request not fulfilled

This month, a Facebook group called "Horror stories about Neighbours in need" started and has been filled with allegations — with more than 600 posts — mostly written by anonymous posters, questioning whether donations given had made it to their intended recipients. The Facebook account used to create the horror stories group  — Teysa Karlov — is a fake account, and not the user's real identity.

Chantal Cooney is one of the people in the group who is not posting anonymously and says she asked for help that never materialized.

Cooney said she has previously requested and received food donations from the group.

She says she requested sneakers for her children for back to school in August and a private sponsor dropped off sneakers and a water bottle for her daughter.

Cooney said she had also requested Adidas sneakers for her son and money was raised for them.

Cooney says she messaged Barber to ask about the sneakers and says she was told they were on the way, but was not given a tracking number for the shipment and said she was blocked from sending further messages.

"It's not the fact of not getting the sneakers. It's the principle of you raised money to help people … and there was no explanation to where the money is going," she said. 

Cooney said the shoes arrived Thursday with a waybill dated Nov. 7.

Other anonymous posters have shared screen shots of emails showing financial donations were made to Courtney Barber, ranging from $15 to hundreds of dollars.

'All of them are lies'

Meanwhile, Terry says, she originally requested help with food from the group because she is a single mother and eventually began volunteering.

Terry was an administrator on the Facebook page and says it was her job to approve, delete and moderate posts and allow people to join the group.

She says she also put hampers together with the donations that have now piled up in her basement. 

"We had slow points where we didn't have to do hampers," Terry said of food donations.

"Once somebody posts on the page, we have to wait five days to see if the community is going to help first, then I step in and I offer them a hamper."

Terry said it is because they didn't want to run out of donations. 

When asked why donations were delivered to her home, instead of directly to those requesting them, Terry said she didn't know why the group operated that way.

Terry has been accused of taking donations for personal gain, which she denies.

"I don't dip from down here. This is for the community," she said. 

People have also been questioning if their monetary donations made it to their intended target. 

Terry says she didn't handle money sent to the group because it was Barber's job.

"She handled all the banking. We don't know what went in that account and what went out of that account," Terry said.

Terry says she has received threatening messages about Neighbours in Need and says she has deleted her Facebook account.

She says allegations of misappropriated donations in the Facebook group are not true. 

"I don't want to see all the horror stories posts because all of them are lies," Terry said.

She says she has since donated the food to other charities. However, she said, some are not willing to accept the food because of the controversy surrounding Neighbours in Need.

"I can't wait to get all this out of my house. I want it gone. I want my hands clear of it. And that's it, I'm done," Terry said in an interview Wednesday.

Not registered charity

In a statement, the Canada Revenue Agency said Neighbours in Need is not a registered charity, which means it does not qualify to give donors charitable tax credits.

"If members of the public are concerned that any organization is engaging in potentially fraudulent activities, they should contact the local authorities mandated to investigate such concerns," communications manager Jeffrey Lansing said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Terry said, she had no place to question why Neighbours in Need wasn't a registered charity because she wasn't in charge of the group.

"[Barber] was asked to do that, but she wouldn't do it. I'm not sure. She said there was too much paperwork behind it, is what she told me," Terry said.

Terry is also calling on Barber to release bank and financial statements to "clear the air" and "show transparency" in light of the allegations about donation misuse. 

CBC News has repeatedly asked Barber for an interview about the allegations multiple times, but has not received a response. 

In a statement sent to VOCM News, Barber wrote that she has asked for items stored in Terry's home to be handed out to the community and wrote that she is "deeply sorry to everyone [affected]".

"I'm well aware that this group of anonymous posters have a multitude of accusations," she said. "Personally, I'm not responding to these attacks and leaving it for proper authorities."

Terry said the project "started out as such a good thing" and it was helping so many people. Now, it's gone.

Kimberly Mercer, who also volunteered with Neighbours in Need, says she moderated the Facebook page and delivered leftovers to seniors. 

Mercer also says Barber would brush off questions about registering Neighbours in Need as a charity. 

"I do believe an investigation needs to be done. That way people like me and the other admins who are innocent can prove like, you know, we're innocent," she said.

Meanwhile, Mercer is apologizing to people who believe they may have been mistreated. 

"I'm very sorry for how you were treated, whether you were blocked from asking the questions, whether you were slammed in other Facebook groups because you tried to speak out about your experience," she said.

Privacy Breach

The Single Parent Association, which is a registered charity, has also been tangled up in a privacy breach involving Neighbours in Need.

In a statement posted to Facebook on Nov. 7, the association says the breach is related to its Christmas Magic program and was limited to 10 individuals.

"No personal identifying information — such as addresses, children's names, or other sensitive data was released," reads a statement from the association's executive director, Jennifer Tarrant. 

Terry says she shared the list of the names from the association in a Facebook chat with a person who was registered for Christmas hampers with the association and Neighbours in Need. 

Terry said they were trying to prevent people from "double dipping" or receiving Christmas hampers from more than one organization.

No complaints: RCMP

RCMP media relations officer Jolene Garland says the force has not received complaints about Neighbours in Need.

Meanwhile, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary media relations officer James Cadigan says the force will not comment about whether it has received complaints.  

However, Cadigan says the best practice is to donate to charities and non-profits that are registered and do research to understand an organization's mandate to understand where the donations are going. 

"Anytime you have money and goods changing hands, it's good to have that sense of security and protection," said Cadigan.

Mercer and Terry said the group did collect personal information, including MCP numbers, to register people for hampers for Christmas, Easter and other holidays. 

Cadigan cautions people against providing personal information such as MCP numbers, social insurance and proof of income with others over social media.  

"If someone has multiple pieces of your identification, then there is risk to what they can access in your name," he said. 

Charity watchdog warning

With the holiday season approaching, Charity Intelligence Canada, which independently researches and ranks Canadian charities, is warning people to do their homework before making donations.

Charity analyst Liam Chapleau said people should do a three-step check process before deciding to make donations. 

First, check to see that the group you intended to help is a registered charity with a registration number with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Chapleau says other red flags could include the group requesting personal information, such as social insurance numbers or other information from the CRA.

"None of this information is ever needed when it comes to donating," said Chapleau.

"So I would just be wary, if anything seems suspicious I would say that that's a bit of a red flag."

He says people should also check for audited financial statements, which are required for any charity with over $250,000 in revenue, in order to see where money is spent. 

"Having these publicly available shows that there's nothing to hide," he said. 

Finally, he says, people should search for information about the organization's mission, programs it runs, and number of people it helps. 

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