GiveSendGo Steps Up
Canadian Truckers
Crowdfunding usually isn’t in the news, but the continuing blockade of Ottawa and border crossings by that changed with the Canadian trucker convoys. The protests were sparked by a Canadian government vaccine mandate for truckers crossing into the U.S. from Canada. Our northern neighbor has seen some of the more draconian COVID mandates. Pastors have been arrested for holding services, and their churches have literally been fenced off from the congregation. Schools in several provinces remain shut amid strict masks and social distancing requirements. All of this as deaths from the dominant Omicron variant rapidly decline.
In a democracy, when a significant portion of the population rises up in peaceful protest, it seems that the best solution is for the government to listen and make changes where possible. That is not what happened in Canada. The Ottawa government declared a state of emergency, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that the “People of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighbourhoods, don’t deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner, or a confederate flag, or the insults and jeers just because they're wearing a mask.” The Canadian people are peaceful. There has been no rioting or looting and little pushing and shoving. After searching many images and videos, I have seen one confederate flag in a crowd of thousands and not a single swastika. Despite that, the police have confiscated diesel fuel and threatened to charge anyone caught providing it to the truckers.
GoFundMe
Those manning the blockades are living in their trucks. They have trouble obtaining food and must run the truck engines to keep the cold Canadian winter at bay. Still, they remain on the blockade. To help with these problems, Freedom 2022 Human Rights, a recently created Canadian nonprofit, opened a crowdfunding campaign on GoFundMe. This effort quickly raised $10 million.
Hearing of the successful fundraising, the Canadian government persuaded GoFundMe to shut down the crowdfunding effort. GoFundMe stated that after receiving evidence from Canadian law enforcement that the “previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation,” the company would not allow additional funds to be distributed. GoFundMe supported the CHAZ/CHOP occupation of part of Seattle even after a murder occurred in the zone.
GoFundMe stated they would donate the funds to a charity that the organizers choose. They later relented and have now offered to refund the money to donors. GoFundMe has repeatedly blocked conservative campaigns such as Arlene’s Flowers, Sweet Cakes Bakery, and conservative pundits like Candace Owen. While it allowed Kyle Rittenhouse to raise money for bail they blocked all further donations until after his acquittal.
GiveSendGo
Wikipedia, with over 55 million pages, has none for GiveSendGo the largest Christian fundraising platform in the world. We previously featured the site here. GSG started as a site to fund Christian missionaries but soon grew to cover other Christian-related expenses such as church renovation, ministry, evangelism, and more. The platform grew to assist charitable nonprofits, medical expenses, and family business ventures. However, as GoFundMe continued to block or ban many conservative causes, those individuals found a sympathetic platform in GiveSendGo. The site’s most controversial campaign, the legal defense fund for Kyle Rittenhouse, raised more than $600,000. Jacob Wells, a GSG co-founder, said they didn’t seek out the campaign, but after it had been verified, they did make the decision to allow it on the site. Wells continued, “Everyone has already judged him without allowing the court system to actually judge him based upon evidence.”
When GoFundMe blocked donations to the Canadian truckers, GiveSendGo stepped up and, at last report, has raised $5 million. Today, the trucker blockade remains and they continue to raise funds for food and fuel on GiveSendGo.
Have you ever used GoFundMe or GiveSendGo? Should they allow controversial campaigns like the Kyle Rittenhouse defense or the Canadian truckers? Let me know what you think in the comment section below.
Update!
February 11, 2022
Just after posting this article we received news that a court in Ontario, Canada, has frozen access to the donations that GiveSendGo has collected.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-canadian-court-freezes-freedom-convoy-givesendgo-donations
