In a February 5 statement, GoFundMe announced that it will automatically refund all donations made to the Canadian Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser.
“GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created,” the statement said. “However, as a result of multiple discussions with local law enforcement and police reports of violence and other unlawful activity, the Freedom Convoy fundraiser has been removed from the GoFundMe platform.”
After removing the Freedom Convoy fundraiser from the platform, GoFundMe initially adopted a strategy of enabling all donors to get a refund, but also outlining a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers.
The initial decision caused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to tweet, “It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing.”
Feedback from donors led them to simply issue automatic refunds.
GiveSendGo, another crowdfunding site, has stepped in to fill the void for those seeking to support the Freedom Convoy.
On February 7, GiveSendGo issued a statement regarding the Freedom Convoy 2022 Campaign. “GiveSendGo stands for hope and freedom. We recognize the freedoms we have are God-given, not authorized by governments, but rather freedoms that ought to be protected by our governments,” the statement said.
In the statement, GiveSendGo pointed out that unlawful behavior by individuals is a possibility whenever large crowds gather, despite the intentions of organizers. “GiveSendGo does not condone violence of any form! We believe there’s more power in the unity of a peaceful protest than in violent civil unrest. As in any polarized situation, we recognize there will be a few individuals and groups that might intentionally try to incite violence, which will be used to stain this movement by opposing groups. We will not broad-stroke those individual situations as a depiction of what this movement represents as if they were affiliated.”
GiveSendGo’s “Adopt a Trucker” campaign has now raised over $400,000 CAD. The “Freedom Convoy 2022” GiveSendGo campaign has raised over $4.5 million. Additional campaigns created in support of Canadian truckers can be found at www.GiveSendGo.com.
Chris Hume is the managing editor of The Lancaster Patriot. He is responsible for managing customer service, sales, and content across all The Lancaster Patriot’s print and digital channels. He can be reached at chris@thelancasterpatriot.com or @ChrisHume1689 on Twitter.
