BBB group questions refuge's accounting

The financially struggling, all-volunteer sanctuary is a tax-exempt charity.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BERLIN CENTER -- The Noah's Lost Ark animal sanctuary is focused on its top priority -- feeding and caring for the 150 exotic animals that reside there -- and that's why it's late with some financial filings, according to Ellen Whitehouse, its co-owner.
A report from the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance in Arlington, Va., which reports nationally on charities of all sizes, said the sanctuary meets six of its 20 charity accountability standards and does not meet four of the standards.
The alliance said it does not have enough information to verify compliance with six additional standards. Four other standards are not currently effective and have not been applied to the evaluation, the alliance said.
Although the alliance said the sanctuary does not meet all its bookkeeping standards, Whitehouse said the sanctuary is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau of Mahoning Valley in Youngstown -- the national Council of BBB's local affiliate.
"We have barely enough money to pay the bills," Whitehouse said of the sanctuary, which provides a haven for abused and unwanted exotic animals. "We have to basically rob Peter to pay Paul."
All volunteers
The sanctuary functions with seven volunteers, including Whitehouse, who serves as its president, and her husband, Douglas, who serves as vice president, chairman of the board and co-owner. It has no paid staff and is designated by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501-C3 corporation eligible to receive tax-deductible gifts. She said her husband subsidizes the sanctuary from his earnings as a truck driver.
Mrs. Whitehouse took issue with the alliance's finding that the sanctuary's six-member board of directors doesn't provide adequate oversight of sanctuary operations. "What does that mean?'' she asked, noting that the sanctuary's board has met at least 17 times this year.
The alliance said that the sanctuary doesn't have a board-approved budget for the current fiscal year and that the alliance requested, but did not receive, the sanctuary's current annual report.
Mrs. Whitehouse said the sanctuary filed its 2001 IRS 990-EZ charitable organization form with the alliance with a copy of its request for an extension of time to file its 2002 IRS 990 form. That's why the financial information is incomplete, she said.
Working on annual report
The annual report isn't available yet because the sanctuary's new accountantis working on it, Mrs. Whitehouse said. "She's trying to redo and make everything right, and it's going to be right," Mrs. Whitehouse said.
The alliance objected that the sanctuary doesn't say what portion of the purchase of screen savers it sells benefits the sanctuary; Mrs. Whitehouse said it's 100 percent. "The purchase of screen savers goes toward feeding animals that were starved," she said.
Based on the 2001 IRS 990-EZ form it filed, the sanctuary had a total income of $49,716 that year with expenses of $67,395 for a deficit of $17,679. It had total liabilities of $161,314 and total assets of $133,610.
Mrs. Whitehouse said of potential donors, "If they truly cared about animals and how they're exploited in the U.S., then they'd understand why we need help."
milliken@vindy.com