We were Silenced by the Bank. Giving Tuesday
For the last eight years, The Center for Garden State Families has been standing up to the Trenton political establishment and defending the Natural Family. God’s definition of family is a father, a mother, and their children. We’ve taken a few slings and arrows for the last eight years but nothing like what happened this August. Without notice, without any warning, there was no heads up; our credit card processing company de-banked us. We only noticed about ten days later when we weren’t seeing any credit card donations recurring or spontaneously coming through.
Back in March, we changed our credit card processor to Prolife Payments. They were a newer company with a worldview identical to ours. They openly expressed that they loved our mission and purpose: to protect and defend the natural family. They liked all of our Five Areas of Focus, so it seemed like a perfect match.
Not so fast! We discovered that there are layers in credit card processing. There is something called a “gateway,” which was, in our case, Prolife Payments. But there is a middleman and the actual processor is a company called Paycosmos. This company operates under several names but in our case, it was a subsidiary called Linked2pay. Then there is the bank that does the financial transactions. For us, it was Avidia Bank, located in Hudson, Massachusetts.
So, what happened? Why did Paycosmos turn off all credit card donations, including our recurring monthly credit card donations? “Bots.” “Bots” are algorithms or programs designed to scour the Internet for controversial information about their clients. Why did the “bots” flag us as a risk? Because of our stand for parental rights, specifically, the LGBTQIA+ curricula being force-fed to school children in New Jersey. According to Paycosmos, the Center for Garden State Families is a reputational risk to the bank. They didn’t seem to like our Pro-Life position either.
The Center for Garden State Families actively and loudly opposes the mutilation of children in the womb and outside the womb. Transitioning a minor child is never warranted, never! Whether that is social transitioning, medical transitioning, or surgical transitioning. It is all mutilation. Mutilation of mind, mutilation of body chemistry, mutilation of a child’s anatomy. We consider this child abuse.
Paycosmos also attacked our leadership for questioning “Alphabet Soup” identity. They targeted us for pointing out the fact that there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biologic etiology or anything LGBTQIA, etc. Human chromosomes are clear: There are only two genders, male and female. Human biology supports male and female. This is not opinion; this is science, and it is reality.
Because of these ideologically programmed “bots,” human executives at PayComos assigned a “reputational risk” on The Center for Garden State Families for Avidia Bank. PayCosmos ignored normal banking courtesy and gave The Center for Garden State Families zero warning. They did not notify us they were going to cease processing our credit cards or give us any grace period to find a new processor for our credit card donations.
It was an ideologically provoked attack on our ability to operate. Done with the malicious intent to shut us down and end our work.
PayCosmos' decision resulted in thousands of dollars of lost revenue to The Center for Garden State Families. As soon as we learned that we had been de-banked, we moved quickly and contracted with a new credit card processor, Anedot. That was 11 days later after learning we had been de-banked.
Linked2pay, which is a PayCosmos subsidiary, appears to have deliberately obfuscated and delayed sending the required files to be migrated to our new processor. PayCosmos is a business playing at being a political action committee.
It took us more than two months to get back to full credit processing before this unprovoked, ideological attack. We, The Center for Garden State Families, are and were doing what so many of you, our donors, trust us to do: defend and protect the natural family. Your family. We stand for biological scientific reality. We defend your God-given right to parent your own children. And for doing so, we were called hateful and were debanked by the woke cancel culture.
As you can see from our correspondence with you – our emails and text messages – we have been working as hard as ever to protect and promote faith, freedom, and the natural family. Day by day, we attend hearings, school board meetings, and gatherings of all kinds while providing testimony before legislative and government bodies. In 2024, the voting public gave a huge thumbs down to woke, leftist ideology and its overreach in our schools, our institutions, and our lives. We want to be free to make our own choices – not herded into government-ordained silos.
We need the necessary resources to maintain and increase all that is needed to fight for our families now more than ever. You know the dangers are ever-present. We need to make up for the lost revenue and financial resources to close the year out strong and begin 2025 even stronger. We are your voice speaking Truth to power to the Trenton political establishment. We are your watchdogs in local government and Washington, DC.
By partnering with us, you are just as much “History Makers and World Changers” as those who are out in the mission field all around the world. I know finances are tight for all of us. Your belief in our mission is the foundation upon which we build a brighter future and lasting change that restores the sanctity of the family, protecting our children and giving ALL of us hope for the future. Together, we are creating lasting change that goes beyond our circle of influence.
Please support The Center for Garden Families by making a generous one-time gift and/or consider becoming a monthly partner. Click here to Donate today.
Thank you. Yours for the Family,