Charities distress elderly woman
She’s 87 and has dementia. So when charities started sending her appeals for donations, she kept paying.
An elderly woman who suffers from dementia has been left ‘‘distressed’’ and in ‘‘panic’’ after being hounded by charities appealing for donations.
The 87-year-old from Kaiaia, south of Auckland, mistook the letters for unpaid bills after a drive by the SPCA to ramp up donations included a copy of their power bill.
Jan Moore, the woman’s daughter, said her mother had become so distressed she called her in a panic one morning at 6am. ‘‘I am the one who usually calls her, so that was the first shock,’’ said Moore. ‘‘She sounded distressed, absolutely panic-struck. I actually thought someone had died.’’
Moore said she immediately started calling the charities, including the Cancer Society and the SPCA, requesting they remove her mother from their mailing lists. ‘‘The trouble is once someone gives them money they just bombard you with requests and appeals. I have no idea how much she has paid so far,’’ she said. ‘‘The Cancer Society was the worst, they kept sending her letters even when I asked them to stop.’’
Moore said her mother had been sent a letter from the SPCA with a power bill inside to show how much their costs had risen.
‘‘It looked like a genuine bill. I mean at first even I was confused as to why mum had a $5900 bill,’’ she said.
‘‘It took me a minute to realise that it was a promotional campaign. I explained that to her, but she did not really get it.’’
Moore, who is based in Auckland, found out about her mother’s confusion on a visit two months ago.
‘‘She was constantly worried about her bills, so I had a look through her letters and that’s when I found out she had been paying various charities.
‘‘This charity business has really pushed mum over the edge. The dementia had been creeping up slowly, but it has become really horrible now.’’
Her mother had donated at least $200 in just one week, but Moore is unsure of what other payments were made to the charities.
‘‘I saw a few receipts. There were two payments of $35 each to the Cancer Society, one after the other. She had also paid two other charities $60 and $70.’’
The chief executive of the Auckland Northland division of the Cancer Society, John Loof, would not discuss individual donors.
‘‘It is very important our supporters have a positive experience,’’ he said. ‘‘In the event they have concerns, we would encourage them to contact us directly.’’
The organisation was grateful for the support from its donors as it allowed them to ‘‘continue our advocacy and research work as well as provide quality care for cancer patients and their families’’.
Amanda Midgen, chief executive of the SPCA, also confirmed that the elderly woman had been removed from their mailing list.
‘‘We removed this supporter’s details immediately after being notified,’’ she said.
‘‘We empathise with this family and in a case like this our policy is to always take all appropriate steps to make sure the situation is resolved.’’