The Starship Foundation, which is currently fundraising for its National Air Ambulance, has been forced to front after it rejected a donation of $570,000 from a Waikato horse breeder.
Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick offered the charity 10% from a $5.2 million win at the NSW Golden Eagle race event on October 29.
His horse, I Wish I Won, won big and Chittick gave Starship Hospital first dibs.
In a statement to 1News earlier today, Starship Foundation's CEO Aisha Daji Punga said Starship's partnership obligations were behind the donation rejection but in a statement this evening, contradicted this, saying time constraints prevented the foundation from doing their due diligence.
The joint statement from the Starship Foundation and Waikato Studs reads:
"The Starship Foundation welcomes donations from gaming societies and the horse racing industry, and has long been the grateful beneficiary of donations of this nature. Donations are the life-blood of the Starship Foundation and every single dollar enables Starship Children's Hospital to deliver world-class healthcare for children.
"Mark Chittick's offer to be involved with and become the potential beneficiary of the charity component of the Golden Eagle Race, came in at 3pm and required us to make a rapid decision by close of business the same day. As with any charity, due diligence is an essential part of our responsibility to accept donations. In this instance, considerations around the size and off-shore nature of the donation regrettably could not be resolved within this timeframe.
"We are tremendously disappointed that we could not meet the deadline and become the beneficiary of this incredibly generous donation. If we had had more time, the decision may very well have been different.
"We have spoken directly to Mark this afternoon and he too is disappointed at the outcome, but acknowledges there were time pressures involved. He would have loved to be involved in the Golden Eagle with the Starship Foundation as the beneficiary and he remains a huge supporter of the incredible work the Hospital does for children and families in need," the statement said.
"Both the Starship Foundation and Waikato Stud have a huge amount of respect for each other’s work and industries and intend to work together to build a partnership in the future.”
It's not clear why Punga originally said Starship's partnership obligations were behind the donation rejection.
"While we are grateful to accept contributions outside of our established partnership programme, providing the Starship Foundation's branding and promotional material is not always possible in order to uphold our existing partnership obligations. In this instance, we were unable to be the nominated charity due to these considerations," the earlier statement said.
Backlash from Kiwis
Kiwis have responded to Starship's decision today, one telling the foundation via its Facebook page to stop asking the public for donations.
"I'm not angry, just disappointed in Starship. I have donated many times to Starship and guess what? I also gamble sometimes on horses! The kids suffering cancer etc don't deserve such poor management making such poor decisions. Don't ever come asking me for money again, but certainly when organisations like CanTeen ask, I will be more than willing."
Another suggested the Starship Foundation partner who declined the donation "might like to match" the amount Chittick offered.
"As a family that have been in and out of Starship for some 16 years, we are dismayed and full of disbelief."
The Starship Foundation recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. The foundation currently has a number of projects it is fundraising for.
It comes as the Charities Amendment Bill is taking submissions until December 9, with the aim to ensure that that contribution is sufficiently transparent to interested parties and the public.
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