Two women posing as charity collectors for the Heart Foundation in Ballina have prompted a warning from the charity that it only does door-to-door collections in September.
Heart Foundation NSW chief executive Kerry Doyle said it was very disappointing to learn that the two women had been knocking on doors to collect donations. for the foundation.
A suspicious person approached by the dodgy collectors contacted Ballina police, who then contacted the foundation on Tuesday.
Ms Doyle said the fake collectors were tainting the good work being done by volunteers who gave up their time in September to collect for the charity.
‘As a charity that relies heavily on donations from generous members of the community to continue our lifesaving work to fight heart disease – the single leading cause of death in Australia, it is incredibly frustrating when something like this happens,’ Ms Doyle said.
She said the Heart Foundation’s purpose was to ensure the people of Australia enjoyed the best heart health possible and this was achieved by funding world-class research, running community programs, supporting health professionals in their practice and advocating for improvements to heart health, all of which is reliant upon financial contributions from the community.
The Big Heart Appeal will be held in NSW from 1-30 September with the aim of raising more than $1.1million in NSW.
‘Our doorknockers can be identified by their badge, receipt book and collectors bag – all of them with the Heart Foundation logo,’ Ms Doyle said.
‘Our Big Heart Appeal is the largest community-led fundraising program for the Heart Foundation, so I’m urging people to support our collectors when they knock on your door and not to be put off by this recent disappointing event.’
For more information visit www.heartfoundation.org.au
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