Funds to be discussed

The Aitutaki Cyclone Appeal Committee has yet to decide how to distribute the $180,000 it has raised since Cyclone Pat hit Aitutaki over a month ago.

Secretary Florence Syme-Buchanan said that ACA still has to reconcile the funds it’s collected locally and from overseas fundraising initiatives.

She also said that not all overseas fundraisers have submitted their proceeds to the central fund.

The Pasifika booth at the weekend, for example, made no contact with the local committee and has not yet tendered the funds it generated at the New Zealand event.

“Quite a bit of the overseas fundraising is using the ACA tagline but they haven’t contacted us or advised us of exactly what they’re doing and what progress they have made,” Syme-Buchanan said.

She said that groups in Melbourne, Brisbane and Tokoroa did get in touch with the local committee, which advised them to deposit takings into the Westpac account to ensure that funds are “managed accountably”, she said.

The committee will be having a meeting tonight at the Aitutaki hostel to discuss overseas fundraising ventures and to determine how best to spend the funds.