Calls for transparency as Neighbours in Need accused of misusing donations

The basement of Peggy Terry's home in the west end of St. John's was stocked Wednesday morning — from floor to ceiling — with donations from Neighbours in Need, a group on Facebook that organized and accepted donations for people in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cans and boxes of donated food line the walls on black plastic shelves, and more are piled up in reusable grocery bags filling spaces on the floor.

In the next room, there are more donations piled up: half a dozen boxes with shoes, heated blankets, an electric razor, clothes, some school supplies and other items.  

Terry's home was a hub where many donations and orders for the group were delivered.

Courtney Barber, who is from Newfoundland and Labrador but lives in Alberta, started the group on Facebook in January 2020, during a brutal winter storm that quickly became known as Snowmageddon. 

When stores were unable to open for days in a row, it was a way for neighbours in the St. John's area to connect and help one another after the blizzard, with everything from infant formula, to food, shoveling and repairs. 

Since then, the group — which has grown to more than 32,000 members — has remained an online forum where people can ask for items they need and others can donate. That was until the group was temporarily deactivated on Nov. 8. 

The group is mired in controversy on social media after allegations surfaced about donations being stockpiled and concerns about transparency around monetary donations, with others alleging they asked for help but were turned down.  

The group has also been entangled in a privacy breach involving the Single Parents Association of Newfoundland and Labrador's Christmas Magic program.   

This month alone, members in the Neighbours in Need group have requested cat litter, clothing, Christmas gifts and food, while others have offered up children's toys, winter hats and baby clothing.

"This page is strictly for helping your neighbours with any resources you may have to offer," reads a description on the group's Facebook page.

"The page is not [intended] for any person(s) to profit from another," it says. 

However, the group did request that monetary donations go to a single email: neighboursinneednfld@gmail.com.

This month, a Facebook group called "Horror stories about Neighbours in need" started and has been filled with allegations — with more and 600 posts — mostly written by anonymous posters, questioning whether donations given had made it to their intended recipients. The Facebook account used to create the horror stories group  — Teysa Karlov — is a fake account, and not the user's real identity.