Online tool helps expose church-hopping scams
Jun 11, 2007
By KANIQUA DANIEL SMOTHERS
Of The Oakland Press

Taking advantage of the church - who would want that on his or her conscience?

Kody Gwynn, a member of the Farmington Hills Church of Christ, said he asked himself that question constantly when he first heard about "church hoppers" - people who abuse the benevolence fund offering by going from church to church, asking for financial assistance.

Individuals will go to a church asking for money, Gwynn said. "Then, that same person will go to a different church, asking for more money."

The scam prompted Gwynn to create a Web site for churches to cross-reference benevolence offerings given to residents. Churches that belong to the site, Benevolence Network, can perform reference checks with congregations across the state by searching the last name or driver's license number of a person who has received aid. The site requires a representative from each member church to report to the Web site any incident where a person is given financial help. the rest