The rich donors keeping Scientology afloat at the end of 2019: Part 1, the lesser whales - 2019-12-07

The rich donors keeping Scientology afloat at the end of 2019: Part 1, the lesser whales December 7, 2019, Tony Ortega, Underground Bunker

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For the fourth and final time this year, Scientology has published a celebration of its wealthiest donors, and this one is the biggest, splashiest shindig of the whole year — the "International Association of Scientologists" (IAS) annual gala and "Patron's Ball," which is held in October in East Grinstead, England.

On Saturday night of the weekend of festivities, Scientology leader recognizes donors who have reached new "status levels" in recent months. These are cumulative giving totals, and Scientologists are under intense pressure to fork over more cash so they can reach these new levels and take home a big shiny trophy.

Earlier this year, IAS donors were celebrated in Beverly Hills, California and Clearwater, Florida and aboard the cruise ship Freewinds in the Caribbean. We showed you those images and donation totals in posts with up-and-coming donors like skateboard hero Aaron Kyro, and the really big whales like Trish Duggan, and celebrity Nancy Cartwright.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | author = Tony Ortega | title = The rich donors keeping Scientology afloat at the end of 2019: Part 1, the lesser whales | url = https://tonyortega.org/2019/12/07/the-rich-donors-keeping-scientology-afloat-at-the-end-of-2019-part-1-the-lesser-whales/ | work = Underground Bunker | date = December 7, 2019 | accessdate = December 8, 2019 }}