HOUSTON â The Exchange Club recently made a donation to Children's Refuge Ministries as part of their community outreach.
Children's Refuge Ministries, formerly known as The Refuge-Chickasaw, is a foster care closet where families of foster children can come and get much needed supplies to help raise these children.
After speaking to the Exchange Club at one of their meetings before the COVID-19 pandemic set in, the club was determined to help The Refuge out with a donation to their organization. However, the pandemic and some tax documents slowed that process a bit.
âUp to this point, the organization operated as a non-profit organization, but had not applied with the Internal Revenue Service for tax exempt status under IRC Section 501(c)(3) nor had we registered with the Mississippi Secretary of Stateâs office as a Charitable Organization,â said Mary Jon Rea, one of the founders of the organization. âBy doing so, contributions made by the public to the organization could be exempt from income tax and financial accountability would be strengthened due to reporting requirements required by the Internal Revenue Service and the Mississippi Secretary of State. In August 2020, the organization changed its name to Childrenâs Refuge Ministries and filed all the applications with the Internal Revenue Service and the Mississippi Secretary of State and was awarded tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.â