A little clarification and some history behind Vector Group Charitable Trust
Our history has always had a charitable focus. Back in 2000 we began initiatives under the name DAISYS iNC which focused specifically around women’s events and weekend retreats. We began this initiative in Whangaparoa and upon moving to BOP, renamed and listed as Godfuel Ministries in June of 2008. We put things on hold for a while and filed as Vector Group Holdings Inc in November of 2010. We were officially listed on the charities website on the 4/01/2011.
Our trust deed is a synthesis of the former Papamoa Community Centre, The Basement in the US, and Objects we had envisioned ourselves. We have since adjusted our name slightly from Vector Group Holdings Inc to Vector Group Charitable Trust and added minor modifications to our original trust deed.
We have always envisioned a type of creatives/youth/whanau/community centre but have focused more on youth in recent times. Our vision is large and always growing with creativity and adjustments along the way.
The reason for us writing this post is that a few community members are spreading distaste among the community.
Here are some registration dates of orgs in te Puke
4/01/2011 Vector Group filed in 2010, previously known as Godfuel June 2008
22/02/2011 Te Puke Community Hub Charitable Trust
25/05/2015 The Search Party Charitable Trust
20/10/2016 EmpowermentNZ
As you can see, our charities registration predates other organisations including a newly forming Community Centre.
We are in no way replicating any community groups in Te Puke and in no way are we duplicating other community trust’s IP. There maybe crossovers across many of the active community groups in Te Puke, but as it stands, our official purpose and structure, our deed, statement of intent, objects and vision, have been alive and well for many years. In fact, CC Licensing of our IP (Intellectual Property) is protected by the creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 NZ).
We ask respectfully that individuals discontinue spreading rumors among community groups, members, which is getting back to funders. It is putting us in jeopardy with funders with a recent visit to a major funder in our region parroting the very same rumors we are hearing back.
VGCT does not have any issues with any other groups duplicating service or projects in Te Puke. We see it as value adding to our thriving community. We are not territorial and want to support where we can in our community. We will, however, refuse to work with groups and individuals who are intent on destroying our credibility and perception in the Te Puke community. If you are one of these people and reading this, we forgive you, but please stop. It is unprofessional and is putting our investment with those we support in the community at risk.
