Despite its seasonal name, The Christmas Gala, works all 12 months of the year to connect Bristol seniors with necessities. The nonprofit provides needy residents with potentially budget-busting items like air conditioners, medications, beds, eyeglasses, and other essentials. When a Facebook disconnect blocked receipt of donated funds, the outreach’s efforts stalled like a sleigh in a blizzard. Nydia Han and Heather Gubola, 6abc, reported the resolution.

Cheryl Campbell founded the organization in 2009 to assist seniors with their needs, either common items or emergency supplies.

Like numerous charities nationwide, it successfully raised donations on Facebook.

But last fall, Campbell found herself unable to access more than $7,000 in online contributions.

After some investigating, she discovered that the nonprofit had opened a new checking account and never updated the fundraising link. She made the revision, but the monetary resources remained in limbo.

Campbell tried for months to fix things. Her emails went unanswered, and she could find no usable phone number.

“It’s mind-boggling that there’s no resources to reach out to them. There’s nobody. They literally tell you ‘We don’t talk to anybody,'” she said.

Campbell turned to 6abc, which resolved things.

She offers two pieces of advice for anyone fundraising on social media:

1. Check accounts regularly for missing payments.
2. Understand sites’ online payout timelines, which can vary from weeks to months

More on this story of a frustrating Facebook foible is at 6abc.