Fire-Rescue News - Lucrative coin-drop fundraisers raise concerns for safety

Ross Gordon, of Galloway Township and a firefighter with the Bayview Volunteer Fire Company, collects donations during a coin drop at the intersection of Pitney and Jimmie Leeds roads in Galloway Township on Nov. 05

Posted: Saturday, November 12, 2011 11:30 pm | Updated: 6:05 am, Sun Nov 13, 2011.

By JOEL LANDAU Staff Writer pressofAtlanticCity.com

Those coins really add up.

costs involved. The members don’t need to bake cakes, barbecue meat or rent a hall. It is one of the reasons many organizations say coin drops are one of the simplest yet most profitable for any group.

But safety concerns have prompted local officials in Atlantic County to create stricter rules regarding the drops and have led to some recent changes in how they are run.

Organizations are now subject to more scrutiny and must provide $1 million in liability insurance before their drops are approved.

The Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders changed its procedures with an ordinance in July that requires the applicant to supply more information and comply with stricter safety procedures.

Frank Formica, freeholder chairman, said that before the new ordinance he had authority to approve all coin drops, but under the new ordinance the events are up for a vote by the entire body. The freeholders can deny a request if it impedes traffic or construction or would harm public safety, according to the ordinance.

“We have so many construction projects. We don’t want to affect traffic,” he said. “We’re looking at it not only for the safety of the participants but also for the drivers.”

Formica said he became concerned when he saw a coin drop for a charity being conducted at Shore and Mill roads in Northfield by college students last year.

“We had young people at the busiest intersection during the summer with no place to stand,” he said. “The cars were just missing the students.”

An organization can obtain $1 million in liability insurance for a few hundred dollars per day, but Egg Harbor Township Mayor James “Sonny” McCullough said he’s concerned the requirement would cut down on the number of coin drops.

In 2005 the county implemented new rules that permit fire and rescue volunteers and charitable organizations to continue with coin drops, but prohibit groups from raising money for member activities such as youth sports clubs. The rules also barred coin drops on certain holidays and limited the approved groups to only two fundraising days per year.

“There were too many,” McCullough said. “Every road on Saturday and Sunday was becoming a toll road.”

Most of the coin drops in Atlantic County are done on county roads, said Buena Vista Township Mayor Chuck Chiarello, noting they have the most traffic. Chiarello said he doesn’t consider coin drops an issue in the

township since they are mostly done by fire departments and rescue squads that make safety a priority.

“They’ll have their lights flashing and wear bright-colored vests,” he said.

Michael O’Hagan, a firefighter for the Bayview Volunteer Fire Department in Galloway Township, organized a coin drop at Pitney and Jimmie Leeds roads Nov. 5 for equipment and maintenance of its building on South Sixth Avenue.

The chairman of the company’s fundraising committee said he had between 20 and 25 volunteers from the company collecting money in firefighters’ boots from the motorists. The company takes all the safety precautions and has never had any “close calls” over the years, he said.

“Being a fire company, we’re always concerned about the safety of the guys,” he said. “If we see a problem, we correct it.”

Cumberland County Freeholder Director Bill Whelan said the issue of coin drops has not come before the board in recent years. Some towns in Cumberland County do not allow coin drops, and others have their own regulations similar to Atlantic County, he said.

Adopting a new policy

The Hamilton Township Committee decided to revise its coin-drop procedures after officials discussed potential safety risks in September.

“I’m very concerned about public safety and ultimately the liability for the township,” said Hamilton Township Committeeman Roger Silva. “I really feel bad for volunteers who have to go out and collect funds for various activities. What can they do? I think we have to go back to the drawing board and see what the alternatives are.”

On the afternoon of Sept. 24, the Hamilton Township Police Department was called to the Black Horse Pike and Wrangleboro Road. The light had turned green but a vehicle stopped so someone inside could donate to a coin drop, according to the police report. This caused the vehicle behind it to stop and the vehicle was rear-ended by another car. The report indicated there was moderate damage to the vehicle that was rear ended but no injuries were reported. No summonses were issued, according to the report.

The township had 43 days of coin drops scheduled in the township this year.

Police Chief Stacey Tappeiner temporarily suspended approval of all coin drops as the township re-evaluated its procedures. Unlike most towns in the county, Hamilton has state roads such as Routes 40 and 50 that are popular for the drops and are not covered under the county’s new ordinance.

“It is a safety concern,” he said. “The roads are very busy.”

New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Tim Greeley said coin drops are approved on state roads for charitable organizations at approved traffic signals and bridge openings during daylight hours.

The applicant must have approval from the municipality and local police chief, he said.

The Hamilton Township Committee will introduce its new ordinance at its meeting Monday and will vote for final adoption on Dec. 3.

“We don’t want to sit here after the fact and say, ‘My goodness, we should have done something sooner,’” Deputy Mayor Charles Cain said.

Township attorney Raymond Went said he included in the planned ordinance many of the provisions in the county ordinance, including the $1 million insurance policy. The applications require the volunteers to provide police more information on when and how they would solicit money from the cars. Each organization can have two one-day events a year.

“For a lot of organizations, it’s a major, if not most significant, fundraising arm they have,” he said.

The township is in the process of identifying safe intersections, he said.

But a busy intersection can mean thousands of dollars for an organization. And the loss of vehicles means a loss in revenue.

Sheldon Silver, president of VFW Post 220 in Mays Landing, said in recent years the post members performed two coin drops a year and would raise about $7,000 in two days standing in front of the shopping centers on Wrangleboro Road north of the Black Horse Pike.

The Police Department moved them farther up Wrangleboro Road, and they raised only $2,400 at a drop last month, Silver said. The VFW raises money to provide services to veterans and also pay costs to allow local civic groups  to use the VFW Hall on Route 50 for free.

“Coin drops are the most profitable fundraiser we can do for the post,” he said.

Marty Manno, president of Mays Landing Athletic Association, said the organization does a few coin drops every year. Manno said the MLAA collected about $6,000 in two days this year compared with between $1,000 and $1,500 volunteers would collect standing in front of a store at a shopping center.

“It makes a big difference because of the volume of people,” he said.

Contact Joel Landau:

609-272-7215

jlandau@pressofac.com