This topic came up in the Potter’s thread and I wanted to make a new note here, to emphasize that I’m not speaking about Potter’s in particular and certainly nothing against Walker. This is an issue on all of the islands that have seen devastated by Irma, etc., as well as here in the US. I have several concerns about this whole thing.

1) The latest rage seems to be Go Fund Me campaigns for everything, including baby showers and sending people on their honeymoon. I personally do not agree with the general concept of people in effect begging for money, which is my perception of these things, if posted by the person wanting the money. I know that many or most of them are posted by OTHER people on behalf of someone else, but one ‘assumes’ that the person for whom the money is being raised has at least consented to the campaign. So I don’t know that I agree with the whole concept. If you really know someone, you know whether they are in need, and you don't have to have them ASK for it.

2) In the context of raising money for a BUSINESS, as compared to for, say the EMPLOYEES of that same business, as a business owner myself, the concept of personal responsibility and carrying insurance on your business resonates with me. Some people choose to self-insure and that’s fine, but that to me is a business decision. And I realize that many people can't afford insurance, but again, to me, it's a cost of doing business. If someone falls at a business and is injured, is that a good reason why the business shouldn't be responsible, that they can't 'afford' insurance?

3) Please understand that Go Fund Me is a business itself. They get 7.8% of all contributions, plus .30 per donation. I’m not saying that they don’t provide a service, but Go Fund Me is a business.

4) Go Fund Me does NOT investigate any of the campaigns and makes no guarantees that the campaigns are not just scams. There have been several scams uncovered in Go Fund Me campaigns in St. Maarten, where there are literally HUNDREDS of such campaigns. Taken from the Go Fund Me website “With hundreds of thousands of campaigns, it's not feasible for GoFundMe to investigate the claims stated by each Campaign Organizer. Rather, we provide visitors with the tools to make an informed decision as to who they choose to support. While GoFundMe and its payment partners do provide a number of safeguards to deter fraud, we must insist that visitors follow the advice stated on each and every campaign. "Only donate to people you personally know & trust."

5) Even if the campaigns itself is not an outright scam, all money donated to Go Fund Me campaigns go to the campaign organizer outright. If you donate money to them, you have only your trust in the good of mankind or the integrity of the particular person that you are donating it to, that the money will actually GET where you think it will go. AND as to what that particular person thinks is a proper use of those funds. Is it a proper use of those funds for the campaign organizer to go the islands with a plane ticket purchased with those funds? What about paying for a hotel room or a rental car while they are there? I don't know what the right answer to that is, but understand that, even if the campaign literature says otherwise, that money goes to the campaign organizer and what they do with it is up to them. Issues...

As I said, in ST. Maarten/ST. Martin, there are LITERALLY hundreds of these campaigns going, including one by a business owner in Simpson Bay who is living in the states, wanting funds to rebuild his business. In the meantime, he seems to be in no hurry to go down to the islands to see for himself what the damage is to his business and what he personally can do to rebuild.

Because of the problems with so MANY of these things, it seems literally for EVERY business on SXM, we don’t even allow them to be posted on the SXM board. We haven’t taken that route here on the BVI board, but a word of caution is in order here. Donate to particular established organizations that you know. If you don’t have prior dealings with the organization or the individuals involved, be careful.

It’s your money, donate to whoever you want. But do it with your eyes wide open and don’t be a rube, because of emotion.