Charity Makes Huge Prop. 22 Gift but Takes Most of It Back

When supporters of a ballot measure aiming to bar same-sex marriage got a $440,000 check in the mail recently, they thought it was too good to be true. Turns out it was.

The donation, from a Christian ministry based in rural Georgia, exceeded--by a long shot--the amount a charity may legally donate to a political cause. When the group’s attorney found out about the hefty sum, he called the Proposition 22 campaign and asked for all but $64,000 back.

“I don’t know if they’re more disappointed or we are,” quipped Robert Glazier, spokesman for the measure’s campaign committee. “We appreciate their attempt at generosity, but we agree they’re doing the right thing by complying with the law.”

Proposition 22 would bar California from legally recognizing same-sex marriages if they are someday legalized in another state.

Terry Parker, an attorney for Helping Hands Ministry in Tallulah Falls, Ga., said the group’s board opposes same-sex marriage and wanted to make a strong statement. “This is an issue all across the country,” he said in an interview from Atlanta, “and California sets the tone. They feel strongly about this.”

Mike Marshall, manager of the campaign against the proposition, voiced dismay that the ministry saw fit to make such a huge donation.

“It’s outrageous that a charity that supposedly helps needy kids would give a quarter of their annual budget to this hateful initiative,” Marshall said. “Proposition 22 isn’t . . . going to save any marriage or elevate any family.”

Parker said the ministry was founded three years ago by several churchgoing mothers. It operates on donations from churches, individuals and foundations and will have revenue of about $2 million this year, he said.

The ministry’s goal is to help the needy, Parker said, citing the “widow of a slain policeman” or “a poor woman with a leaky roof” as examples. The Proposition 22 donation marks the group’s first bid to influence a political campaign, he said.