The Canton Police Department is investigating allegations of thousands of dollars in missing money from the Pisgah High School Activities Club, an athletic boosters organization.

Mike Smathers, president of the organization, asked the Canton Police Department for help after discovering money was missing from the club’s account that he felt should have been there.

“I went to pay for something and there wasn’t enough money,” Smathers said. There was only $900 left in the bank. Smathers wouldn’t say how much should have been there, but the amount is rumored to be around $30,000. Smathers also notified the district attorney’s office.

“It is more or less in their hands,” Smathers said.

The investigation has been under way for two months, but hit a snag in obtaining needed bank records.

“We are not able to make a determination yet if there are possible violations,” Police Chief Bill Guillett said. “During the process of investigation, we found the need for bank records. In the process of getting these bank records, we are having to go through the court system.”

Smathers has turned over all the club’s financial records and bank statements to police. But apparently there are additional bank records outside the purview of the club that police want to obtain.

The club only required one signature on checks or withdrawals from the account. Usually, that was the club’s treasurer, Michelle Shipman.

When Smathers discovered money in the account was lower than he thought it should be, he spread word to the club’s members and supporters to attend a meeting in early February. There was a crowd of 100 people there.

“They had the books there for everybody to look at,” said Buddy Ledford, a long-time volunteer with the club. “Everybody was just shocked. When something like that happens, it involves the whole community. Everyone was just shocked about it, coaches and all.”

Ledford said no one blames Smathers.

“I am sure he wasn’t involved in it. He didn’t have anything to do with the money,” Ledford said. “Only one person signed the checks.”

David Singleton, a supporter of the club, said a tight-knit community like Canton is trusting by nature.

“Maybe that is not always a good thing,” Singleton said.

The very nature of volunteer nonprofits can also make them vulnerable.

“It’s tough in these nonprofit organizations. The bookkeeping is probably the most tedious chore and to have someone volunteer to do that, I think everyone is just glad to let somebody else do it,” Singleton said.

Support not wavering

At the February meeting, Smathers gave a pep talk to supporters to get out in the community and sell season tickets to next year’s football games earlier than usual in hopes of replenishing the club’s coffers.

“We asked each coach if they would have two parent representatives from their teams to come,” Smathers said of the meeting. “We wanted to talk to them about a plan to get this year back on track. They were very understanding. I had faith in this community and it came through. This community is not going to let these kids do without.”

Buddy Ledford, who has been painting the stripes on the football field before every home game for years, said the incident won’t affect financial support from the community.

“Canton is a strong community for sports. We’ll come back,” Ledford said.

Singleton agreed, citing the value of the organization to the students.

“It is the difference between having a fair athletic program and having a really good athletic program. Without the things they do, we wouldn’t have near the facilities and equipment that we have,” Singleton said.

Smathers estimated the club’s annual budget is around $50,000. The club pays for everything from trophies for valuable players to liability insurance for all athletes. It also buys equipment, like a recent purchase of $14,000 for track equipment.

“We just want to make sure that our kids at Pisgah are the best they can be. We want to provide them everything they need for that,” Smathers said. “We have an awful lot of friends in the community that do that. There’s a lot of tradition here. That’s why we are so upset with anything like this.”

Smathers hopes the club can recover the missing money through the police investigation, but knows he can’t count on it. In the meantime, he doesn’t want students to go without.

“Up until this day we have been able to provide anything to any athlete at Pisgah that they needed,” Smathers said.

Booster organizations, whether it’s athletic boosters, band boosters or ROTC boosters, play a vital role, said Bill Nolte, assistant superintendent of Haywood County Schools.

“We are very appreciative of those organizations. They provide a lot of things tax dollars don’t provide for,” Nolte said.