Fund raising and concerns

Well, we had a lot of success with our fundraiser today! We sat at the cafeteria from around 8:30 until 4:00 selling carnations and baked goods. I have some thoughts I want to jot down about how Hope wants to use the money for lowernine.org

We could give the money straight to the organization, or we could use it to pay the volunteer fee for the students headed down there on Spring break. The volunteer fee had already been covered by a grant, but Hope is interested in using the money that was raised to cover the volunteer fee and to reimburse some grant money. I am concerned because we asked people for donations, and they gave them in good faith for rebuilding efforts, but if we spend the money this way, it looks a little bit deceiving, like we raised money for charity but ended up using it to make our school trip cheaper. It's important to keep the confidence others have in the integrity of our organization, because if we raise money again in the future, it's good for others to know that we are true to our word.

People may not like me after I express this, but I am committed to integrity as a core value.