Скандал с пожертвованиями: НКО обвиняют в краже гуманитарной помощи для пострадавших от лесных пожаров

SPOKANE, Wash. — A dispute between two nonprofits over wildfire donations left questions about pallets meant for the Spokane and Colville reservations impacted by the Kaiser Canyon fire. Amy Calkins said she needed storage space for 12 pallets of supplies, and Heroes Homestead agreed to help. "This organization stole everything from us. That was designated for the tribes. For fire relief victims," said Amy Calkins. Calkins told NonStop Local that she noticed Facebook posts with photos of Heroes Homestead volunteers standing in her donation boxes and sorting through her items.  Heroes Homestead says the Facebook photos of their volunteers touching Calkins donations were not hers, as they have duplicates of their stored items. "We have two pallets of gloves. We have two pallets of tape. We have two pallets of stuffies. One was theirs. One was ours," said Danielle Holstine. The arrangement later broke down when Calkins tried to get the donations back. She said only four of the 12 pallets were available when she arrived. "So we stand outside, and we're just waiting for, like, what's going on here? Andrew comes up with a pallet of items, and he clearly says, ' This is all yours out here,' said Calkins. She said eight other pallets offered to her did not match her inventory. Calkins also confirmed the markings on pallets shown to her in pictures matched hers. Andrew Holstine and his wife Danielle run Heroes Homestead. He said this social media dispute has taken attention away from the people both groups were trying to help.  "I'm more upset that this is happening than because it's hurting those who need it," said Andrew Holstine. "We started in 2018. It was out of a passion to really see our service members come back and adapt to America," said Danielle Holstine.  Andrew Holstine said the claim that donations were taken did not make sense to him because Calkins pallets are still at their warehouse, including seven that were clearly marked and one where tape was not visible. "There are seven pallets clearly labeled; there's one that we can't find tape on. So out of the eight pallets, one does not have the clearly stickered tape."Tell me what we took because we didn't take anything, and we'd be glad to give them back to you," said Andrew. Calkins said she still could not access the rest of the items she said remained inside the warehouse. Holstine said he could hand the pallets over at any time. "My mission in providing things to the reservation has pretty much come to an end; the donation locations are not taking anything in or doing the distributions. Everybody is in temporary housing right now," said Calkins. Both sides said they filed reports in the case.