and this summer and fall began receiving complaints from Longfellow residents
about a suspicious canvass knocking on the doors there using my organizations
name, Sister's Camelot. This was also reported to me in Uptown, and Powderhorn,
but no one was able to supply me with a name or a pamphlet till Longfellow.
People said they didn't donate, but also didn't get pamphlets, but also said
when they did donate, did not get pamphlets.
The group is giving out pamphlets that say that they are called
"Community-Driven" and they are telling people they are associated with Sisters
Camelot. They are also telling people any random number of things about Sisters
Camelot attempt to gain donations when people have told them no, they already
give out donations to Sisters Camelot or other groups, this includes giving
people the impression we are no longer operating as we currently are in between
busses and suggesting that people divert the donations to their group instead.
Some research was done into this group, and the group was just founded 3 months
ago. Although they claim to be asking for money for food, they do not have any
food giveaways scheduled on their website, and they don't have any sponsors
listed that supply them with food. They are also conveniently stating in order
to gain donations that they are "supporting the arts" and also that they are
going to be using their donations to provide people with college scholarships
and trade school scholarships. Their address is a personal home, and they
currently do not have an EIN # listed although they claim the business is filed
as a non-profit.
Instead of asking for money on the strength of the work their group does,
because they have no program, they are instead trying to give people the
impression that they are a capable and competent group to donate to because
they claim they used to work for Sisters Camelot and drive our bus, and the
they say, they don't have a bus anymore, give the money to us!
While we are currently between buses and fundraising in the hopes of purchasing
a new one, or even getting one donated, we are not a cause that gives away
buses or bus rides so that is irrelevant, we are still sharing anywhere between
6-8 thousand pounds of perishable and other food items each week in the Twin
Cities.
I did some research and discovered that this canvass is founded by the person
who mostly created Sisters Camelot's canvass. While working for Sisters
Camelot, he engaged in Wage Theft from the workers, by diverting their pay into
his checks because he collected the commission checks from the mail, and also
turned them into himself as director, and then dropped them into the bank and
added them to payroll without oversight. A judge ordered a court reporter to
make a notation about this known theft from workers in a court document and can
be found looking through legal documents, I feel confident mentioning the wage
theft because it was documented by the courts as a known fact.
After he was no longer with Sisters Camelot, he started a new organization, a
few years ago, "North Country Food Alliance," where he promised as the founder
that no workers would be exploited and the entire basis for the non-profit was
worker's rights. At the end of last year, a worker alleged that he had raped
them and sexually harassed them. It is highly telling that the founder of a
non-profit NCFA has to move on from his own brand new non-profit after rape
allegations against him by the workers and instead create a whole new
organization to compete against the organization he JUST founded which has cut
ties with him.
As it stands today, the founder of North Country Food Alliance is no longer
employed by the organization he founded only a few years ago, and has now
created his 3rd Twin Cities food share program to date, which he is calling
"Community-Driven" and it is operating out of a private home. Their website is
highly suspect.
His brand new canvass that he created because he has been run out of the two
other communities for exploiting people, is now out "competing" against the
other two canvasses he created, so he is the reason multiple people are going
to your door now each year and asking you for money to share free food. He
basically creates a canvass and exploits the workers, the company property and
donations, and then after he is pushed out by workers, he then will create an
all-new charity which he then sends to your home. He will ask you then to give
money to his new organization as opposed to the last two canvasses he founded
and exploited.
I have been canvassing in Longfellow for Sister's Camelot and have received
multiple complaints about this new organization using our name and we do not
condone or endorse this organizations using our name to try to gain donations.
I am also concerned as an individual, that someone known for exploiting
workers, and stealing wages would be out looking to hire new workers to drive
out to your area to ask you for money, not to mention the implications of
having an alleged rapist at your home on your porch, knocking. Also when he was
running the Sisters Camelot canvass, over a decade ago, he would not do a
background check on anyone and was hiring the most suspicious individuals, who
he would drive around in a van and exploit by stealing their wages. Some of
them were criminals.
Long story short, he is a documented thief and an alleged rapist who has just
been pushed out of the last organization he founded due to rape accusations and
he has already created a copy cat version of the last two organizations, where
he will employ people with criminal records and send them to your home without
supervision to ask you for donations for an organizations which seemingly have
no food to give-a-way and also no sponsors.
Feel free to donate to Sisters Camelot or North Country Food Alliance, two
great local non-profits which are doing good work in the community. I am
currently out canvassing for Sisters Camelot in Longfellow and have received
multiple complaints about visits from this new organization using our name to
ask you for money, and short of make a post to warn everyone what this man and
his new organization is all about, there is really nothing else that I can do.
I can't really stop him from coming to your door but I can tell you what he is
all about.
Now I would never tell anyone what to do, and expect to take my word for it, so
if you decide to give them money, that's up to you I guess, I would just do a
lot of investigation first. If you did give them money and you feel they
misrepresented themselves, maybe its not too late to retract your check.
If anyone needs any groceries, Sisters Camelot is currently sharing between
6-8k pounds of mostly perishable foods each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
with the giveaways being posted to the groups social media page. So feel free
to follow the Fb for notifications and updates. We will have a community food
share tomorrow. Location TBA.
Currently I am their only canvasser who is out knocking on doors in Longfellow
so if a guy comes and uses the name Sisters Camelot to gain a donation its okay
to not give him one.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to get in touch.
Thanks,