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Representatives from “New Life Church” solicited money this past weekend at the intersection of I-35 and FM 455 (Chapman Drive) in Sanger. The non-profit charity, however, had no local ties, and it was learned on Monday that this group travels the country and collects money.
Jim Mann, pastor of the New Life Church in Sanger on Milam Road said, “They have no ties to us.” Mr. Mann, determined to find out who these people were, pulled up to the intersection in his car and asked if they were connected with the local church. The solicitor answered “yes.”
Mann became even more concerned when he Googled this group on the internet and found they have misrepresented themselves in several states. No one knows where the money actually goes. The group claims it is for needy families and children and they usually stay about 20 days in a city or community, although they were in Sanger a much shorter time.
This group, which apparently had vacated by at least early Tuesday morning, did operate legally, obtaining a permit from the City of Sanger. Since the group did follow the legal channels to obtain the permit, the city’s hands were essentially tied as they don’t have the authority to deny a permit based on current ordinances. Many, many other cities around the country have found themselves in similar situations with this group, unable to deny the permit or force them to leave based on local ordinances.
“It was frustrating,” Sanger City Manager Mike Brice said Tuesday of the ordeal. “We’ve taken a good, hard look at our ordinance over the last week and obviously it needs a little work to make it stiffer. It will probably go the City Council in January for a vote.”
“There are things we can do to make the ordinance more restrictive,” Brice said, “but the bad side is that whatever we do, it has to apply to everyone. It will be as restrictive to our fire department out collecting money on Labor Day as it is for people like these last week. It’s really unfortunate.”
Sanger Police Chief Curtis Amyx was frustrated as well.
“We had many complaints from citizens, but there was nothing we could do to make them leave. They were there legally,” Chief Amyx said Tuesday. “We had seven complaints on Monday alone, mainly that they were on private property and were actually in the street blocking traffic. The traffic lights operate on sensors, so by them holding up traffic, the sensor would read traffic flow incorrectly and make the light turn a quick red or quick green.”
Other complaints concerned one driver who said one of the solicitors put his head all the way inside their car, and others said they would also ask for money at the gas stations at the intersections while customers got fuel.
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