A second person has come forward after the Starship Foundation allegedly rejected his offer of a $10,000 donation several months ago.
Te Aroha man, Jamie Lock, told 1News he sold his horse Sierra Sue in late 2019. He was subsequently gifted a share of the horse by the Australian buyer Ozzie Kheir and after becoming $17,000 richer, Lock wanted to give $10,000 of it to Starship Hospital.
However, he said the offer was rejected by Starship, being told the foundation could not receive proceeds from gambling.
He told 1News after hearing that racing associate Mark Chittick’s more sizeable donation was also rejected he wanted to speak out.
Waikato Stud principal Chittick’s horse I Wish I Win won big at the Golden Eagle race in New South Wales on Saturday.
The event specifies that the owner of the horse nominates a charity to donate 10% of its win to.
Chittick decided to offer Starship Hospital the opportunity to take $570,000 from the $5.2 million win but was turned down. Starship chief executive Aisha Daji Punga said yesterday Starship's partnership obligations were behind the donation rejection. But in a further statement late yesterday said it was due to tight time constraints.
Chittick lost his wife to leukaemia 10 years ago, and told 1News he’s seen first-hand how hard hospital staff work and wanted to donate to the health system.
Asked today about why the Starship Foundation rejected Lock's offer, Punga did not provide a response.
Lock said he found not being able to give to the Starship Foundation difficult, given his own personal experience.
“I was pretty offended and upset at the time,” Lock said.
He explained he had wanted to gift the money to Starship following his partner’s daughter’s five-year struggle with leukaemia, which she has now recovered from.
“I only wanted to donate out of good will,” he said.
Lock said he believes Sierra Sue has brought about much good.
"She has gone on to change people’s lives, there are multiple people who have benefited out of her achievements.”
He said he bought Sierra Sue at the Karaka sales for $2000 but she had gone on to do so well, the proceeds from the sale ended up being $1.55 million.
"When I heard Mark’s story, I thought – another one. Mark’s experience after his wife’s journey with cancer is close to his heart and I felt sorry for him.
“Trying to give and being rejected, it’s a weird feeling.
"I’ve known Mark and the Chittick family all my life and they have done so many good things for people, it’s unbelievable," Lock said.
Unsure if further charities would accept his money, he instead split the money between friends and strangers who were in need.
“We are in a tough time at the moment with money being tight but there are people out there who want to help and it would be nice to be able to know which charities will actually accept our money.
“I am thankful for the job Starship did with my partner’s daughter, they saved her life and I don’t have any ill-feeling toward Starship.
“She has just started working in the stables in the past two months and seeing the smile on her face makes the tough journey she has been on all worth it.
“I just wish we could give back," Lock said.
Lock says he has friends in the racing industry who also want to donate to Starship but are unsure if they can.
1News spoke to Punga, who said, "we treat all donation enquires on a case by case basis, the general guidelines support our decision making when we look at for donations over a certain level."
Starships donation guidelines:
• For donations over $100k - assess the source of funds for illegal activity
• Donations satisfy Anti Money Laundering requirements
• Gambling applications need Board Resolutions
• Brand leveraging does not contravene our existing partnership obligations
• Campaign or community supporters can use Starship community and supporter branding on approved promotional material.
• Product associations require a contractual partnership which includes an underwrite
• Case-by-case brand reputational risk for new donors and speculative donations
• Donations wishing to leverage the brand outside of a contract.
Punga agreed unwell children at the hospital should not be undermined by public backlash over where donations come from.
Racing Minister, Kieran McAnulty was approached but declined to comment.
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