Personnel
MCA has five volunteer directors and three regular volunteer staff as
follows:
1. Father Joseph Maier, born 31 October 1939 in the USA, resident of
Klong Toey, co-founder with
Sister Maria Chantavarodom (1973) and primary pastor of the Human Development Foundation (HDF), also known as “HDF Mercy Centre” at 100/11 Kae-Ha
Klong Toey 4, Dhamrongratthaphiphat Road in Klong Toey Bangkok 10110 Thailand.
2. Usanee Janngeon, born 20 April 1965, a Thai resident of Bangkok, Director of HDF
Mercy Centre since 1991.
3. Prawina Sompong, born 8 November 1977, a Thai resident of Bangkok, joined Mercy in 2000
and is now a Director and heads Public Relations at HDF Mercy Centre.
4. Lucy Braoudakis, born 20 July 1968, an Australian resident of Sydney, first worked
with HDF Mercy Centre in 2004 and works for Qantas.
5. John Golfin, born 3 November 1965, an Australian resident of Sydney, first worked
with HDF Mercy Centre in 2009 and led the initiative to form MCA.
Ricardo Alarcon, an Australian resident of Sydney, got involved with HDF Mercy Centre back in late 1996 and has been the "face" of HDF Mercy Centre in Australia before MCA was formed. Ricardo started out as the Thailand Project Coordinator for the Qantas Cabin Crew Team (QCCT) and took up the role of Project Manager in 2000. Ricardo was also heavily involved in administration and the completion of a number of volunteer special projects at HDF Mercy Centre via QCCT.
Vivien Chapman,
an
Australian resident of Sydney, is our Child Sponsorship administrator and has
been the liaison between sponsors and the HDF Mercy Centre before MCA was
formed. Vivien works for Qantas and got involved with HDF Mercy Centre in 2008
via the QCCT.
George Braoudakis, an Australian resident of Sydney, husband of
Lucy Braoudakis and a Nuclear Physicist was introduced to Mercy with Lucy in
2004 and has worked tirelessly on many Special Projects over the years
including the tougher building maintenance projects. The kids at Mercy are
especially fond of George as he has a very gentle nature and always jokes
around with them.
Introduction
Allow John Golfin to give
you a light-hearted written introduction to HDF Mercy Centre and MCA via words
and pictures at
www.mercycentreaustralia.blogspot.com from a traveller’s and volunteer’s perspective
which you too can experience if you get involved.
John Golfin has also made a short 7 minute film
introducing HDF Mercy Centre and MCA via images, sounds and interviews, once
again from a traveller’s and volunteer’s perspective at
www.vimeo.com/98844616
History
The complete MCA history
with timelines and credentials is presented as follows:
22 December 2011: Dr Robert Kelley, a lawyer specialising in the set up of charities in
Australia with the “
Centre for Philosophy” in Perth sends John Golfin an
email confirming the viability of MCA and proposing actions, timeframes and
costs. John Golfin approached Sydney lawyer and current President of the Parish
Committee of the St George Greek Orthodox Church in Rose Bay, John Barboutis,
who suggested Dr Kelley based on his past work for the Greek Archdiocese in
Sydney. All costs were covered by private funds – donor money was not used.
7 February 2012: John Golfin officially engages Dr Robert Kelley to commence the
formation of MCA based on a detailed proposal emailed to John by Dr Kelley on
this day. This involves the registration of two entities with the Australia
Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Business Register
(ABR) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO): the actual TRUST that is Mercy
and a COMPANY that acts as an administrator of the TRUST.
12 September 2012: John Golfin, receives a completed registration certificate from ASIC and a completed registration certificate from the ABR for the COMPANY called “Mercy Centre Australia Ltd” which
is known as a “Special Purpose Company” since its job is to look after the
TRUST and not make profit.
23 October 2012: John Golfin, receives a completed registration certificate from the ABR for the TRUST called “The Trustee for Mercy Centre
Australia” which is known as a “Public Ancillary Fund” because it is
not subject to tax, can issue tax deductible receipts and is entitled to tax concessions.
At this point MCA can open a bank account, accept donations, issue tax
deductible receipt but cannot send funds to any overseas charity including HDF
Mercy Centre unless it is through an Australian charity that is specially
registered to deal with overseas charities. Dr Kelley suggests that John and
Lucy approach Jorge Rodrigues, CEO of "
Samaritans Purse Australia". John
and Lucy decide not to open bank accounts until MCA has successfully engaged
Samaritans Purse Australia or equivalent since funds may be trapped in
Australia.
7 March 2013: John Golfin and Lucy Braoudakis open the first MCA bank accounts, one
for one-off donations and the other for regular child sponsorships on the basis
that MCA will use Samaritans Purse Australia to channel funds to HDF Mercy
Centre after several meetings with CEO, Jorge Rodrigues and Project Manager, Abby
McPharlin. Samaritans Purse Australia does excellent work, is highly respected
and has a global presence thanks to the work of Reverend Billy Graham who
founded the charity. Samaritans Purse also has an established charity in
Thailand. John and Lucy decide that MCA funds for the Thai school year
commencing May 2013 would come via the existing Qantas Cabin Crew Team (QCCT)
channel since there would not be enough time to set up the facility via
Samaritans Purse Australia and Thailand. This would also buy us the extra time
required to investigate MCA becoming registered to send funds overseas which
typically takes two years but with the formation of the new Australian
Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) there was a possibility we could
do it sooner.
16 March 2013: Father Joseph Maier officially launched MCA at a dinner with 20 of
our supporters at the Eastbank Brasserie & Bar in Circular Quay, Sydney. It
is at this celebration that the very first sponsorship cheque was presented to
MCA from INTERNATIONAL PET BRANDS PTE. LTD. John, Lucy and George were proud to
show Father Joe, Usanee and Ratana and her niece the sites of Sydney, Bondi
Beach and Brighton Le Sands.
19 March 2014: The wait was worth it! In 2013 the ATO transferred many of its
responsibilities for charities to the ACNC including the ability of an
Australian Charity to support causes overseas. On this date John Golfin
officially engaged Dr Robert Kelley a second time to have MCA endorsed by the
ACNC to support causes overseas on its own. Dr Kelly sent John a detailed plan
of actions, dates and costs to do this. Once again, all costs were covered by
private funds – donor money was not used.
24 May 2014: This is the date that we all were waiting for. On this day John
Golfin received the
hardcopy registration confirmation from the ACNC that MCA
was now a charity able to support any charitable cause in the world. MCA would
not require Samaritans Purse Australia and Thailand and MCA could now focus on
transferring tax deductible funds for the Thai school year commencing May 2014.
4 June 2014: John Golfin and Lucy Braoudakis open the second lot of MCA bank
accounts, one for one-off donations and the other for regular child
sponsorships and closed off the first set of accounts since they are required
in a different name under the new registration with ACNC.
12 June 2014: MCA makes its first official and full transfer of tax deductible
funds from its new account in Australia to the account of HDF Mercy Centre in
Thailand.
27 March 2015: ACNC changes its rules allowing a COMPANY to be registered as a charity (Public Benevolent Institution or PBI) without the need for a TRUSTEE and invites MCA to voluntarily de-register their TRUSTEE (ABN 36401575814) and make the COMPANY (ABN 57160325799) a fully registered PBI charity with the "tick" issued to evidence registration.
This is the full account
of the formation of Mercy Centre Australia. A journey of almost 3 years from "idea" to "first bank transfer"...
Our Credentials
REGISTERED CHARITY Certificate from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC)
Registration Certificate from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
Registration Certificate from the Australian Business Register (ABR)
Endorsement as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Endorsement for Charity Tax Concessions (CTC) from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
