Gloria Jeans appears to have dropped Mercy Ministries…

although it must have been whisper quite as this is the first I have heard of it.  In a short filler piece for the Daily Telegraph, by Ros Reines, reporting on Marina Go’s purchase of a Gloria Jeans Franchise, we find:

Froth for a cause

FROM magazine maven to coffee queen, but is former Dolly and Elle editor Marina Go getting herself into hot water after signing on as a franchisee of Gloria Jean’s coffee in Bondi Junction?

The frothy chain once supported pro-life group Mercy Ministries, which has direct links to Hillsong. Last year, Mercy Ministries was accused of abusing young women wanting help with mental illness and eating disorders.

The charity denied all claims.

A spokesman for Gloria Jean’s said that the company has since severed all ties with Mercy Ministries.

"There is now the Gloria Jean’s International Foundation which is primarily focused on humanitarian and community programs,” she said. "The Foundation does not support Mercy Ministries.

The last major fundraising promotion with Mercy was in October, 2007.”

Getting right into the swing of things, Go, who is still online publisher for Michael Hannan’s Internet Digital Media company, ran Cappuccino For A Cause on Friday, with 50c from each cup donated to Opportunity International, to help people in Third World countries.

"We took the franchise on last April and I knew then Gloria Jean’s had nothing further to do with Mercy Ministries,”

Go told Hush. "As a franchisee,  we can choose to opt out of charity initiatives but humanitarian aid  is definitely something I agree with.”

[Source]

So first things first – Hooray, about time Gloria Jeans. 

Now that the jubilation is over I want to comment on some of the statements above.

A spokesman for Gloria Jean’s said that the company has since severed all ties with Mercy Ministries.

It’s unclear when this occurred.  It certainly wasn’t in the months directly after the abuse claims.  Indeed Gloria Jeans was one of the few corporate sponsors that kept their sponsorship arrangement.  The original press release that I commented on in Damage Control  is no longer on the Gloria Jeans site, but it was similar to this letter here. 

In a cursory search via google I can find no press release announcing the severing of ties with Mercy. 

So my feeling is that this was done quietly so as not to further damage Mercy Ministries.

The last major fundraising promotion with Mercy was in October, 2007.”

That well may be the case, however Gloria Jeans were still collecting money on behalf of Mercy well into 2009, the last time I walked into Gloria Jeans in July 2008 they had collection boxes on the front counter in Pitt Street mall.  This comment stinks to me of a PR smooth over, suggesting that they really weren’t that involved. 

No I think it far ore likely that potential franchisees may have been put off.

We took the franchise on last April and I knew then Gloria Jean’s had nothing further to do with Mercy Ministries,

If that’s April 2008 I am very sceptical.

But all in all a good outcome.

Will I be going back to Gloria’s for my Tim Tam crush:

I won’t be going back to Gloria Jeans, they still carry too many ties with prosperity gospel christianity and their partner Compassion is an evanglical organisation who amongst other things seeks to address  the Aids pandemic in Africa through sexual purity, this note from their website is telling:

Note: Compassion funds will not be used to purchase or promote the distribution of condoms. The message of "safe sex" to youth is contradictory to the Biblical message of sexual purity.

[source]

No guessing what their view on abortion is.

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