Disquiet has been expressed to Go-Fubar magazine by - well - quite a lot of readers - about the upcoming (28th Jan) tsunami disaster relief fundraiser by the "Fukuoka Entrepreneur Promotion Committee" at a swanky hotel in Fukuoka.

It`s easy to see why - the form email we (the magazine) received announcing the event was just a touch "careless" with language. The entry fee to what is basically a posh buffet including - the FEPC tell us - dinner, drink, entertainment and speaker at the Fukuoka Okura was described at one point as a "donation", a word that might suggest to the unwary that the whole 10,000 yen (about 100 dollars or 50 pounds) was going to charity. Indeed, as late as the 27th of January the entry fee was still billed as a "donation" at the kyushuconnection.com website, although the text indicated that only the profits would be donated.

So it wasn`t just us that was confused. We dashed off a quick email to the FEPC on the 11th of January pointing out the discrepancy and requesting clarification. We also suggested that since the FEPC was - in their words - a "private business group" and since the UN Habitat connection was being pushed it would be very much in order for them to publish full financial accounts for the bash, showing exactly how the entry fee had been spent and what exactly had been donated to UN Habitat.

A Ms Paula Ricci replied the next day, stating that 100 percent of the profits, after costs, for the event would be donated to Fukuoka UN Habitat and, crucially, that - we quote "All accounting regarding this particular event will be available to the public." She also stated that the the three "FEPC Coordinators" were donating their time and energy and would not be paid for their work in any way.

Fair enough. Obviously we plan to bring you those accounts when they are released. Releasing them is a wise move by the FEPC, and frankly, one they should have included in

	from the kyushuconnections website

all their advertising from the outset - assuming they had thought of it. We decided to let the matter drop. However, since mid January, the level of disquiet expressed to GFB has risen to a level that we feel requires some comment and a public airing.

Now nobody is accusing the FEPC of any form of dishonesty, although naivety is certainly on the cards. Anyone doing a charity fundraiser really has to be very careful indeed to avoid any suggestion that they, or their group, will benefit, for some fairly liberal definitions of the word "benefit"...

So, apart from the "open accounts" point, what else has got some long term Fukuoka foreign residents in such a tiz? We have heard some uncharitable souls, particularly those with long memories (memories we share, as it happens...), accuse the FEPC of opportunism. This strikes us as a little harsh, but we may as well give the argument a canter if only to rebut it. On this view, a posh dinner with entertainment at an expensive hotel is not the most effective way of raising funds for tsunami relief. They even suggest that the event, which was originally billed to be little more than a standard "welcome party" for various consular staff - frankly of limited interest - has gained significantly by tieing its pony cart to the grand carriage that is the Fukuoka UN Habitat. After all, being able to splash "Fukuoka UN Habitat" all over the advertising can`t have done it any harm....

We bow to few in the mean-spiritedness department, but just possibly the benefit of the doubt should be given here. We do acknowledge the FEPC`s penchant for backing into the limelight, but this event wasn`t cooked up specially for the occasion, it was happening anyway and likely to generate a healthy profit for the FEPC, so the impulse to donate that profit to charity is generous and humane. The muddle about donation/entry fee is probably just that - a consequence of naivety and enthusiasm. As long as the FEPC does not suggest that going to a splashy and expensive bash is a particularly efficient way to donate funds to charity, we see no harm in it. After all, some of the people going may well have been intending to go anyway. We are sure that the level of self-congratulation that has marked other FEPC events will be kept to a tasteful minimum out of deference to the gravity of what is an appalling tragedy. And after just the slightest prod from Go-fubar, they have said they will publish accounts...

As for ourselves, we do NOT encourage readers to donate money to charity by means of "fundraisers" such as this. Send your money directly to a reputable charity and forgo the dancing girls, is our advice.

Editor


(For our dimmer readers, "dancing girls" is just an expression - the FEPC haven`t promised "dancing girls". As far as we know, anyway...)

(Readers comments are welcome. Keep them clean and rational if you want them printing. On a sidenote, we tried to remove all ads from this page - they just didn`t seem appropriate - but alas, one has escaped our best ministrations. Kindly don`t click it. )®