Church charities bank on generosity following donation shortfall

Church organisations left in the lurch by six-figure shortfalls in donations this week are hoping to make up some of the damage on Sunday, when the Church celebrates its yearly Charity Day. Dar tal-Providenza and Caritas were among charities affected by a technical error at telecoms provider GO that resulted in €1.4 million in donations being double-counted. The error means donations to affected organisations made during TV fundraisers in late 2020 are hundreds of thousands of euro lower than originally expected. Affected organisations were informed of the technical error in February but the mistake was only made public this week. In a statement, the Church had said that affected organisations’ work for the upcoming year would be derailed by the error. The charities will be hoping to make up some of the shortfall on Sunday, as the Church seeks donations as part of its Charity Day, held annually on the third weekend after Easter. In a statement, the Church said that donations will be used to help children and elderly people in church-run homes, people with special needs, people in drug rehab programmes, migrants and asylum seekers in Church-run homes, domestic violence victims,...