Carcassonne. The Bouchons 11 association awaiting unpaid receipts
On July 18, 2022, the ”Cité en fête” association organized a series of events, including the collection of corks and the sale of T-shirts, the profits of which were to be donated to the Bouchons 11 association. later, its president claims to have received nothing: ”Cité en fête” explains that no profit had been made, but that a check will be given very soon.
The passage of the Tour de France in Carcassonne is always the source of fantastic popular excitement. In 2022, the city even vibrated “cycling” for three days, the runners having stopped on site on July 18 before setting off again the next day. If the Bastide was at the forefront, the Cité also wanted to mark the occasion: the association of merchants “Cité en fête” organized an afternoon marked by a flash mob but also by the collection of cork and plastic stoppers, intended for the association “Bouchons 11 solidarity handicap” (alias “Bouchons catarou”). A sale of T-shirts was also set up, the profit again having to be donated to the same structure. Except that ten months later, nothing has been collected… which is not without reacting to its president Bernard Sanchez.
“We collect corks to help people with disabilities, to enable them to acquire equipment adapted to their needs and to improve their daily lives.recalls the person concerned. As such, we had indeed been contacted to participate in this event”. The manager even believes that “Bouchons 11” acted as a kind of common thread: “Whether in the media or on the spot, it was clearly indicated that the profits of the afternoon would go to our association; especially since in terms of collecting corks, the traders had really played the game”. In fact, Gérard Sanchez is only more surprised by the prolonged silence concerning the fruit of the sale of the t-shirts.
“The same day, the organizers suggested that I wait until September for the check to be given, because they were in the middle of the summer season. As we still had no news at the start of 2023, I called in March and April, without having more precision”. And Bernard Sanchez then considered a completely different approach… “Articles 313-1 and 313-2 of the Penal Code stipulate that if you solicit the public to collect money for the benefit of a charitable association and that the latter is not transferred, it is a scam. It hurts my heart for the members of ” Cité ” en fête, but for lack of progress we could consider filing a complaint”. Fortunately, Bouchons 11 should not have to come to such extremes.
Representative of “Cité en Fête”, Joaïda Khong-Dauritz admits: “We missed it a bit; I can understand that Bouchons 11 feels cheated, you have to understand that we organized all of this in the middle of the season, in addition to our work as traders… It was complicated”. But if traders have a little “zapped” handing over the check is mainly because unfortunately there weren’t really any to offer. “The corks collected by the merchants that day were donated to the association, however we did not make a profit on the sale of the T-shirts because we did not record the expected benefits with the presence of the Tour in terms of attendance”. In absolute terms, there would be no money to donate… but there is no question for “Cité en fête” to stop at this disappointing observation.
“We are still going to give a check to Bouchons 11, especially since the merchants of the City have still collected corks”, says Joaïda Khong-Dauritz. The appointment should be set very soon, which would rule out for good a legal scenario that no one wants. “We have no cash flowexplains Bernard Sanchez. We do not ask for any contributions from volunteers: we only work with our lottery and the subsidy from the Department, knowing that we have two premises to insure. In these conditions, any help is welcome!” “Cité en fête” claims to have understood this well, even if appearances may have worked against it.
