How are funds raised by Hospice charity shops utilised?
Hospice East Rand charity shops and owned and managed by the organisation to assist in funding its palliative care.
Anonymous, Benoni, writes:
I have heard that Hospice East Rand charity shops are privately owned.
According to my information, some offer palliative care to nurses while others do not.
The shops are making a lot of money, tax-free. How are funds raised by these shops utilised and can they account for these funds?
Most people are under the impression that the donations are going towards care, is this indeed the case?
Editor’s note
Jonquil Siepman, marketing and media liaison at Hospice East Rand, responded:
Hospice East Rand is an NPO that provides home-based palliative care to patients diagnosed with a life-limiting illness within Ekurhuleni.
Our palliative care team consists of doctors, nursing sisters and social workers.
Our medical team visit patients in the comfort of their homes providing pain management and symptom control, while the psychosocial department supports patients and their family from a psychological and spiritual perspective.
Many of our patients are not in a position to pay for these services. We do not receive grants or funding from the government and therefore, rely heavily on donations, fundraisers and bequests to continue providing care.
To ensure our organisation’s long-term sustainability, we have 10 established charity shops and a bookshop throughout our service area.
Donations of goods for resale at these shops are an invaluable way of helping us to maintain our high standard of care.
Funds generated from these shops go directly towards helping community members needing support but cannot afford to pay for services.
These shops form the backbone of the continuous income required to provide palliative care.
We would like to reaffirm that each charity shop is owned and managed by Hospice East Rand and none of them are privately owned.
Each charity shop has a manager who is employed by the organisation and receives a small monthly salary.
As an NPO, we have an AGM and at these meetings, we provide feedback on the past year’s performance and share our financial statements.
These meetings are advertised in all community newspapers and we welcome attendance from community members.
Transparency is very important to us.
Anyone wanting more information may contact Hospice East Rand on 011 422 1531.
ALSO READ: The truth about hospice care
ALSO READ: Help Benoni biokineticist run the MUT to raise funds for Hospice
