There have many recent reports of people going door to door in Steinbach selling chocolate bars much higher than their value, claiming the money will go to relatives in the Philippines. 

Greg Carlos is the President of the South EastMan Filipino Association. He notes they have been hearing reports like these since October, but they have picked up as we get closer to Christmas. 

“There is one about typhoons, there is one about basketball fundraising, and there is another one about family back home.” 

Carlos notes SEMFA is in no way involved in this activity. 

“We are now working with different associations and organizations in order to find out what is actually happening and we finally figured out some of the facts. Those people are not from the Southeast or in Steinbach and so we don't know where they are coming from and what agenda they have. We are very careful because we don't know who are we dealing with.” 

On Sunday, Carlos says he heard reports of this happening in two separate areas of Steinbach at the same time, leading him to believe it is a fairly sizable operation.  

In an effort to create awareness, Carlos assures residents of Steinbach and the Southeast that local Filipino organizations do not raise funds in this way. 

“The best thing is just to be careful out there. SEMFA and the Prairie Basketball League, we are only doing fundraising during events and we are directly asking sponsors to help fund our programs and events and that is it.” 

Carlos says they are disappointed to hear that people are taking advantage of others during the holiday season. He notes it goes against the message they are trying to send at SEMFA. 

“It is very unfortunate because we in the Filipino community, we are trying to have a strong, united, and healthy community to show to Steinbach and the region that we are here to support and we are here to provide the right information and help to newcomers. Right now, we have been having trouble for the past month sorting this out.” 

In a post on Facebook, Carlos adds “Please do not buy any products from these people. Call the RCMP if they are being aggressive. On behalf of the Filipino community, we are very sorry this is happening. Take pictures if you can so we can stop this together.”