poverty

Just Zilch’s application to become a charity will not be fast-tracked despite an “overwhelming” response to news they are on desperate street.

The free food store’s management has been fighting to make it a charitable trust for the past 18 months, but have been hamstrung because they cannot prove they are only helping people in poverty.

Without access to the funding options available to registered charities, Just Zilch management has warned it might have to close its doors in three months.

Charities Services general manager Brendon Ward said they had been assisting Just Zilch but they had not yet been able to accept the applications because of the vagaries of the documents they had received.

“We try to provide a service that helps people through their applications but we can only do so much; we can’t write the application for them.”

Wording was important and they could not just accept an organisation was a charity because the vibe of it was good, he said.

“The integrity of the register is really important.

“We want the public to have trust and faith in the organisations we consider charities and so it’s not uncommon for us to go back to people applying once or twice.

“We do need to take our time to ensure we make the right decision.

“That decision has to be based on the organisation’s application and on the 400 years of case law that has gone before it.”

Mr Ward said Just Zilch’s 18 month battle was “not an ordinary case” as it had been hampered by the timing of Charities Services – formerly the Charities Commission – merger with the Department of Internal Affairs.

For more on the story go to:

Story by Chris Hyde. 27 April 2013

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/8603999/No-fast-tracking-for-Just-Zilch

OPINION: Poverty by Rob Mitchell – Acting Editor 24 April 2013

There are few words in the modern New Zealand lexicon that stimulate quite as much debate or polarise the populace as dramatically as this one.

It appears that you either believe in its existence or you do not; there is little middle ground, little stable footing from which to mount a reasoned argument. It’s black and white. End of story. At least until the next round of statistics are released.

Critics who argue against the existence of poverty usually point to what they claim is a dearth of evidence supporting the contention. They point to disturbing images of bloated, malnourished African children too weak to bat away the many flies as a major plank in their own cross-examination.

That is poverty, they say, and nothing like that exists in this country.

That may be true, but like most points of reference when comparing our country with others, everything is relative. Including poverty.

And while we have a safety net to help ensure that pictures of hungry, dying children remain a distant, foreign concern, there are people who are struggling in this country. Some of them quite badly.

And the evidence is there. In Palmerston North it is displayed for all to see just metres from the city’s expansive, pleasant Square.

It wraps around the walls of two buildings leading to an outlet where free food is dispensed to all who need it.

Some of those waiting in line at Just Zilch are likely not as desperate as others, but it is clear that the great majority of these people share a ragged and threadbare coat of desperation and deprivation.

Whether it’s their own fault or they are victims of circumstances beyond their control, most of these people badly need the support of organisations such as Just Zilch.

The service this organisation delivers for its community is both honourable and charitable. That a funding body would deny its status as a charity is most definitely dishonourable. And that its main reason for doing so is Just Zilch’s refusal to discriminate is bizarre and disturbing.

There is a poverty of morality and logic in not supporting Just Zilch’s good works: it takes food deemed surplus to requirements and helps to feed those struggling to look after themselves. And it also keeps a lid on shoplifting and petty crime, a point made by those on the line.

Possibly even more importantly, it provides very public, albeit challenging, evidence that poverty of a sort does exist in this country.

It’s black and white. End of story.

Source: Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: Poverty by Rob Mitchell – Acting Editor

http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/8590870/Editorial-Poor-show-to-cast-doubt-on-charity

No fast-tracking to become charity for Just Zilch

Poor Show to cast doubt on charity – Editorial: Manawatu Standard

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