Statement from EarthTides Pagan Network

July 1, 2019

The EarthTides Pagan Network was established in 1989 as a support resource for Maine’s Pagan community. For the past few years, EarthTides has been dormant due to lack of interest and lack of volunteer support, among several issues.

During this period of dormancy, one member of the Board, the Treasurer, Lorelei Greenwood-Jones, was left to run the books in good faith.

This January, community members stepped up and offered their energy to revamp the EarthTides website and to revitalize the organization. During this process Mrs. Greenwood-Jones was asked to give a report about the financial situation of EarthTides. Instead of doing this, Mrs. Greenwood-Jones admitted that for several years, as far back as 2013, she had been taking EarthTides funds for personal use and that the bank account was empty. Following this confession, Mrs. Greenwood-Jones was removed from the EarthTides Board and from her role as Treasurer, including removal from the EarthTides bank account.

As a non-profit organization which does not pay taxes on income, EarthTides Pagan Network was required to report this incident to the State of Maine. Furthermore, Mrs.Greenwood-Jones has released a statement to the community with an explanation and an apology.

Though a repayment plan was voluntarily established over the intervening years by Mrs. Greenwood-Jones, she continued to take unauthorized funds from the EarthTides account even after repaying some of the money. Since her removal from the Board, however, a new repayment plan has been established with Mrs. Greenwood-Jones and is ongoing as of this statement.

The EarthTides Board is saddened by these events and takes full responsibility for our lack of organizational oversight which contributed significantly to this situation.

Thank you for your continued support of EarthTides.

Blessings,

EarthTides Pagan Network Board:

Nikki Starcat Shields

Janine Marie Gorham

Brent Nelson

Cynthia Grimm