The Occupy Wall Street movement could be broke in a month, according to recent reports. The latest blow to the protest group comes as it has been struggling to stay afloat following its Nov. 15 eviction from New York City's Zuccotti Park.
"If we keep spending at the rate at which we have been doing, we will probably go broke in a month," Haywood Carey, a member of the movement's accounting group, told the Wall Street Journal.
The group's bank balance has dwindled to just $170,000 according to the Journal, down from the nearly $700,000 it raised last fall. Very few donations are coming in, volunteers said, a harsh reality following the money that poured in from around the nation during the group's highly publicized two-month stint in a Lower Manhattan park.
[See pictures of Occupy Wall Street protests.]
Funding of day-to-day expenses has become more difficult in the wake the group's eviction. The Occupy Wall Street General Assembly voted this weekend to halt spending on new projects, but will continue to fund housing, food, clothing, and transportation for volunteers, the Journal reported.
The group's tight money situation threatens to further divide the movement. While some Occupiers support actively reaching out for donations, others argue a focus on fundraising could distract the movement from its goals.
"There's a trap that the mission becomes more about sustaining the organization than its message," Jason Ahmadi, an Occupy Wall Street activist told the Journal.
mhandley@usnews.com
Twitter: @mmhandley
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beaker55 of NY 1:49PM March 12, 2012
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