Call For Action helps school's Human Rights Club get fundraiser money from ticket seller
WESTFORD – The Human Rights Club at Westford Academy spent weeks planning a fundraiser to help south Asian victims of domestic abuse. But when the online ticket seller failed to pay them their ticket receipts, they reached out to WBZ-TV's Call For Action.
"It was honestly just really disappointing," said Medha Jegga, describing their frustration over their missing ticket revenue.
The fundraiser was held in May; it was a celebration of South Asian culture, with dance performances, a henna station and a large buffet of traditional Indian dishes.
"We had naan, paneer, some butter chicken," said another student organizer Sreya Binu. "It was the right amount of spicy for everyone to enjoy," she added laughing.
It is the food that gave this fundraiser its name.
"It's called Chat Masala," said Medha, explaining that Chat is a typical Indian appetizer and Masala is a type of spice.
Hundreds of people turned out for the event and the club raised $1,600 for an organization called Saheli, which helps South Asian domestic abuse victims.
"To be able to give that to a charity that we know will help people was a really good feeling," Medha said.
But that good feeling faded when the online ticket seller, Brown Paper Tickets, failed to pay them more than $800 in ticket sales.
The club's faculty advisor, Rebecca Shaw, reached out to Brown Paper Tickets twice with no luck.
"It was an auto response," she said describing the email she got from the company. "'Here's your case umber and we'll be in touch with you in two to three days' and nobody ever called me," she said.
Earlier this year, a non-profit that runs organ concerts in a Methuen music hall ran into the same issue with Brown Paper Tickets. A few days after WBZ-TV called, they got their money.
So, we reached out again on behalf of the Westford Academy club. A spokesperson from Brown Paper Tickets promptly responded to us saying in an email:
Events.com is in process of acquiring Brown Paper Tickets. Brown Paper Tickets event organizers are being paid on a daily basis, and we continue to make progress on getting everyone paid. After confirming with our accounting department, we can assure you that Rebecca ...has been paid in full.
The spokesperson also referred to the press release about the acquisition that described how Brown Paper Tickets had been hard hit by the pandemic.
