The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

CROWDFUNDING giant GoFundMe will donate more than $200,000 to the HeadKnowles Foundation, signalling its support for Gina Knowles as she tries to recover funds from charity co-founder Lia Head-Rigby.

Mrs Head-Rigby, who split from the charity last September, withdrew funds that she did not send to the foundation as mandated, according to Bobby Whithorne, director of GoFundMe’s North America communications.  

His statement to The Tribune came after Ms Knowles sued Mrs Head-Rigby and her husband in Florida, alleging they have withheld Hurricane Dorian GoFundMe donations. Mrs Head-Rigby has denied the allegations in the lawsuit saying her “hands are clean”.  

The GoFundMe campaign attracted nearly $1.5 million in donations since the deadly September storm.

Mr Whithorne said because the organisation’s payment processor, WePay, does not support direct transfers to the Bahamas, the funds were transferred to Mrs Head-Rigby’s US Bank of America Account and were then supposed to be transferred to the HeadKnowles Foundation locally.

“To be clear, more than one million dollars raised was transferred from Lia Head-Rigby to the benefiting organisation named on the fundraiser, the HeadKnowles Foundation,” Mr Whithorne said.

“Lia Head-Rigby withdrew but then did not transfer $217,645 to the HeadKnowles Foundation. In the interim, WePay froze the remaining balance of $246,483,” he said.

“In order to protect GoFundMe donors, GoFundMe will donate $217,645 to the HeadKnowles Foundation while they try to recover the funds from Lia Head-Rigby. We encourage WePay to release the remaining $246,483 directly to the HeadKnowles Foundation. Our goal is to make sure every dollar donated is transferred to the HeadKnowles Foundation, as was stated in the campaign. GoFundMe will continue to work with all parties involved to help resolve the matter. At this point, the remaining balance is with WePay.”

Mr Whithorne said his company prefers sending funds directly to organisations but can’t do that for Bahamas-based groups because of the limitations of WePay.

“The money raised must be transferred to a bank account located in the US, and then transferred to the account of the Bahamas,” he said.

“GoFundMe’s priority is to fully protect all donors on the platform and to ensure the money raised goes to the intended use, in this case to the HeadKnowles Foundation for hurricane relief in The Bahamas.” 

As observers question whether Bahamian regulators will look into the controversy, John Michael-Clarke, chairman of the Bahamas Disaster Reconstruction Recovery, said his interactions with HeadKnowles Foundation after Hurricane Dorian were positive.

“All I can hope is that the people who mean to do work continue to do the good they mean to do,” he told this newspaper. 

In a video posted on Wednesday night, Ms Knowles called GoFundMe’s donation “fantastic” news. 

“I am so––all of us––are so excited to give you this news and can’t wait to give you the next update,” she said.