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Church funds returned, ticket company paying back customers
BATON ROUGE - A church is extra thankful for the generosity of its community after a ticket company hired to handle its fundraisers stiffed them. Now, six months after a 2 On Your Side story they are finally made whole.
Rev. Tommy Dillon at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church says he had faith the payment would come through from Brown Paper Tickets. The money was deposited into the church's account about a year and a half after the event.
"This is Easter season, I was like the resurrection's happened, we got the money," Dillon said.
For many years, Dillon has been using Brown Paper Tickets as his go-to ticketing platform for events in churches where he serves. The company had a reputation for giving back to the community, but it's been in some trouble. When the platform didn't return the funding collected Dillon was filled with a bit of "holy anger."
Soon after a 2 On Your Side story aired last November about the missing funds, parishioners and members of the community were eager to help and donated about $5,000, much more than the $2,125 that was owed.
"I was just so amazed when people said, 'Well, I want to cover this amount!'" Dillon said.
Now the community outreach church has some extra funding to help people in need.
"I'm doing what Jesus taught us to do, to love and to care for people so that's what we do so that's what we're doing with the money," he said.
Even without the funds, Dillon stayed positive.
"We are okay, but I know smaller groups or someone who is doing a fundraiser for someone who has cancer, they need money right then," he said.
Dillon is happy to hear that Brown Paper Tickets is making good to its customers but is a little cautious about choosing them for his events in the future.
Brown Paper Tickets has been purchased by Events.com. Since that acquisition, Events.com has helped Brown Paper Tickets disperse over $75 million to event organizers. Those payments should be completed by the end of May. The platform will now ensure immediate payment to event organizers moving forward.