You've seen the headlines and read the stories, sometimes shaking your head in disbelief as another member of our regional community is accused of stealing from a nonprofit entity that is supposed to enrich our region's quality of life - not the treasurer or some other volunteer.

In recent weeks, two more examples of financial improprieties by volunteer or service organizations were brought to our attention by law enforcement. It almost has become an epidemic in northeastern Pennsylvania. This time a volunteer fire company in Monroe County was decertified by the township in which it operated amid accusations of $30,000 in missing fire company funds. It is not the first time there have been reports of money unaccounted for by this volunteer organization.The residents of that community now must pay for inept or sloppy bookkeeping or worse among the volunteers - many of whom they call friend or neighbor. When seconds matter most, households will have to rely on fire companies from neighboring municipalities to respond to their emergency calls.Volunteer organizations are supposed to be the backbone of the community, a source of pride and camaraderie where people come together for the common good - whether it is for teaching tomorrow's leaders the fine art of sportsmanship or teamwork, or collectively saving to invest in educational tools or fire apparatus.Most recently, a search warrant - not the first - was issued in the ongoing investigation of a Luzerne County volunteer fire company where $100,000 is allegedly missing. The organization now does not have sufficient funds to repair a firetruck that is needed to protect the community it serves. Utilities also have been shut off to the fire company due to its inability to pay bills.Investigations into these incidents will proceed, and through due process the allegations of misuse of nonprofit resources will be proven or disproven. Either way, though, the outcome, quite frankly, is unacceptable. It does not matter if someone pocketed the money or it is simply a case of sloppy bookkeeping. The communities served by these all-volunteer organizations have and will continue to suffer because of the lack of basic internal controls and extremely poor financial records.These all-too-prevalent occurrences are extremely disruptive and, for the most part, very preventable. All-volunteer organizations must wake up and understand the investment of time and effort in implementing simple internal controls is not a choice: It is a requisite for providing the good, honest services they have promised to their communities.The Department of Business and College of Professional Studies and Social Sciences at Misericordia University are offering a free seminar at 6 p.m. Oct. 28 in Sandy and Marlene Insalaco Hall to explain the best practices for enacting internal controls. You do not need to be an accountant or even a math whiz to be able to safeguard your community organization's funds. Rather, you need the time and patience to establish protocols and a set of checks and balances to ensure a community asset is not tainted by scandal.The seminar will focus on all-volunteer organizations where it is more difficult to implement the standard internal controls that nonprofits with employees can enact. There will be presenters from Harrisburg and local nonprofit support organizations in addition to those from Misericordia. The complete manual is available at

www.Misericordia.edu/nonprofitcontrols.com.Please encourage anyone you know who is active in an all-volunteer organization to attend. After all, in an era where resources are few, it is important that we do not waste an opportunity for good civic engagement that builds upon our fine communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.Fred J. Croop is the dean of the College of Professional Studies and Social Sciences at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pennsylvania, the oldest four-year institution of higher education in Luzerne County. He can be reached at

fcroop@misericordia.edu.The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.