Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Relay for Life

I have to apologize to all people that sent me donations last year for the Relay for Life fundraiser. The UVI chairperson has still not sent in the donations to the American Cancer Society (ACS) and I have done everything I can to try and make her turn them in. I have called, emailed, stopped by in person and my supervisor has done the same, and still nothing. We have contacted the ACS as well as the president of UVI and still nothing. It's a real shame. ACS is very disappointed that so much money was raised that never made it to the cause. I alone raised around $600, but who knows how much the university raised since it was never turned in and the person that has all the donation sheets aren't turning them over. So, those of you that wrote checks and they haven't cleared, they probably never will. At this point the checks are almost a year old, so technically they shouldn't be allowed to be cashed even if they were turned in. I've tried getting the checks back from the chairperson so that there wasn't any chance of her cashing them, but I can't even get her to do that.

This whole thing, in my opinion, has put a black cloud over UVI and their reputation. If they allow this person to ever be in charge of a fund raiser again then they're crazy. It's also put a black cloud over me as far as my fund raising capabilities. Who in their right mind would ever send me a donation for anything I participate in when the last check they sent was never cashed and never given to the cause they were supporting. I always participate in some kind of event every year and do a great job of fund raising, but those days are over.

So my apologies to all of you that the ACS never saw your money, you couldn't turn it in as a charitable contribution on your taxes, and the hassle of balancing your check book for the past year with an outstanding check. Sorry. :-(

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you ever thought about making this person's identity known?? Then maybe the public can apply some pressure to this 'upstanding citizen' in order to gently persuade them to do the right thing. Just a thought....

Deb and Jay said...

It's not a secret who the chair person was so I don't have a problem giving her name. It's Inez Bartlette. She's a current UVI employee. I'm not saying she stole anything, I just know that none of the checks that I turned in as donations were ever received by the American Cancer Society.

Anonymous said...

I found the email address for the
'chair person'... it was easy to do, just go to uvi.edu and check the directory for employees... IF enough people send emails to both UVI and the chair person, MAYBE they can be shamed into doing the right thing?????? at least its worth a try.... AS LONG AS it wont get you in trouble???????????
if you would rather this not happen, just say so.... otherwise, ms bartlette better 'look out'.. haha

Anonymous said...

I would think this is somewhat embezzlement...she is holding funds that do not belong to her.

vitempest said...

This is ridiculous. You should immediately send this information to the office of the Governor, the office of the Inspector General, The Daily News, The Source, the Avis and any other party that you can think of. This is a criminal act - clearly she stole the cash and just threw away, or stuffed into an envelope, the checks.

Is it true that this person works in the procurement office at UVI? If so one can only imagine how much tiefing has gone on there...

Deb and Jay said...

I don't know about the whole newspaper thing. And I don't think sending emails will do anything. Both me and my supervisor have sent numerous emails and voice mails and have not gotten any response. So I don't really know what the resolve should be.

Deb and Jay said...

Things are happening.....I'll let you know the outcome.

Deb and Jay said...

A meeting was called today with the president of UVI and the parties involved. They asked me to post that a resolution soon come so obviously my post had some inpact. Thanks to the readers that commented and possibly took some action, maybe we'll see something positive come out of this. It's really amazing what power of the internet holds and what can be accomplished by something as small as our little blog and the readers. I will keep you updated as things transpire.

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