Some stories are difficult to write but necessary.
Some stories are difficult to write but necessary.
For the past two weeks the Cochrane Eagle has been following the story about the possibility of theft from Friends of Glenbow (FOG), a charity that helps parents and students at Glenbow School to cover costs for a variety of special projects and field trips.
The paper broke the story after a tip from a community citizen. The person told us that a former FOG board member had gone to the RCMP with a report that her signature had been forged on multiple cheques and money was missing from FOG's account.
The RCMP confirmed the investigation and then the next day decided to close the case and FOG moved forward with its own internal investigation. When the Cochrane Eagle was presented with the information regarding the forged signatures, we were also forwarded copies of bank statements. Included in those statements were copies of cheques that are believed to bear a forged signature. Unlike the other cheques, these ones do not contain a denotation of how the money was used. According to Sandy Hennig, her signature on those cheques is not only a forgery, she no longer had signing authority when they were cashed.
Aside from copies of the bank statements, we have additional information from a number of sources and we are waiting to publish those details if and when they are confirmed through the appropriate channels.
Some have questioned why we have hit this story so hard, asking why we would want to do harm to a children's charity.
The answer is simple, we wish no harm to the Friends of Glenbow. What we want is to ensure the organization is representing not only the children it aims to help, but the people who entrust it with their hard-earned dollars.
Charities are endowed with a significant level of public trust. As a result, they have a responsibility to uphold that trust, which means being transparent and diligent with the money they collect.
All speculation aside, the fact FOG is conducting an internal investigation confirms there are some irregularities. While the complaint to police paints it with a serious brush, it is possible the problems are more procedural than criminal in nature.
Either way, FOG had a responsibility to its school community as soon it noticed an issue.
At that point the organization should have immediately told its stakeholders there was an issue, informed them of the steps being taken to investigate and resolve that issue and ceased all fundraising efforts until that investigation was completed.
Unfortunately none of that happened until the newspaper was tipped off to the situation. That is why this story is so important. We are not trying to destroy a charity, we are trying to ensure it is run appropriately and in a way that will maintain public trust so it can be there for the students and parents of Glenbow School in the future.
(Full disclosure: the editor's child attends Glenbow School)
