Fundraising Campaigns - 114 discrete campaigns captured to-date

By viewing thewhistleblower.ca you have explicitly agreed to abide by the Terms and Conditions of Use.

There are continuous fundraising campaigns appealing for donations and gift certificates "for the horses". Donations are solicited largely via Instagram but also from other social media and donation platforms including, but not limited to, GoFundMe, Patreon, LinkTree, Facebook, the Flying "L" Ranch website, the social media sites of his family members, as well print and electronic publications.

Questions have been raised as to how donated funds are used and whether they are indeed put to use solely "for the horses". Full and complete financial disclosure is the only objective and definitive way to respond to such questions and to dispose of any doubt about the use of donated funds. It has always been Michael's option to be transparent by making such a disclosure but so far he has elected not to.

The inventory of fundraising campaigns below shows appeals for donations include, but are not limited to, $17,218 for the "Weiser Strong Fund", $10,000K for water pumping equipment, $7,400 for vet services, money to find a wild stallion he calls "Gus", requests to purchase gift certificates for use at Beaver Valley Feeds in Williams Lake, raffle tickets to "win a trip to the ranch" (these raffles were illegal), requests to donate and have one's name written with a sharpie on the border company's replacement flag, and $10,000 to purchase an interest in some horses from a Xeni Gwet'in First Nations elder (Mr. Benny William) under the banner of "Let's help Elder Benny out".

Records disclosed in Freedom of Information Request #PSS-2024-42332 reveal concerns have been raised to the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch about transparency and accountability in respect to donations;

What concerns me is that there is no transparency or accountability whatsoever. The public never knows how the monies raised were are used, if in fact they were used for the intended purpose, or other purposes, or how much money was raised.

As of today, based on the materials publicly posted or linked by Michael that we could locate, we have not found any financial statements, disclosures, or itemized accounting describing the total donations/gifts received or how funds were used. If such documentation exists, we will review it and update this page. However, Michael has posted some information (for example, informal updates or partial totals) about funds raised in a few of the campaigns;^[1]

• Oakley fundraiser (May 5, 2024): $14,464.35
• Water pumping equipment (Jun 10, 2024): $3,466.27
• One of the several Gift certificate for feed campaigns (Sep 29, 2024): $285
• Vet services (Oct 4, 2024): $5,467
• Weiser Strong Fund (Nov 5, 2024): $15,422 (see "Update on "Weiser Strong Fund" campaign.)
• Weiser Strong 1st Vet Visit (Nov 8, 2024): $7,351
• Names put on flag (Feb 27, 2025): $6,008.79
• Momma fundraiser (Mar 4, 2025): $2,299.42
• Herd co-ownership (Apr 1, 2025): $5,557
• Custom tilt squeeze (March 15, 2026): $21,447 (But where is it?)

On November 9, 2024 Michael published an Instagram story indicating earnings from Instagram are meager and presented what may be the Instagram statement showing approximate earnings of $2.29 for the period Oct 10, 2024 to Nov 8, 2024. Third party tools are available to evaluate social media accounts. For example, here is the link to HypeAuditor's "Instagram Analysis, Net Worth, and Earning" of Michael's Instagram.

Inventory of Fundraising Campaigns
(Number of captured to-date: 114)
Please see the notes below the list.

[1] Funds are in US$ unless noted. Dates are when the images showing amounts raised were captured.

Return to footnote reference in text.

» Notes on the inventory of fundraising campaigns:

• All of this material has been gathered from Michael's Flying "L" Ranch social media presence.
• There are undoubtedly additional fundraising campaigns we missed and which therefore don't appear here.
• Any errors in exact dates are inadvertent, but this does not detract from the accuracy of the content.
• Most PayPal links appear to remain active.
• The links to Michael's Instagram videos cannot be viewed if you are logged into Instagram and Michael has blocked you. In this case completely log out of Instagram and try again, which seems to work.
• A green star (^⭑) in the list indicates that regardless of possible deletions of the referenced Instagram video, we have preserved a copy in our off‑line archives. This also applies to Instagram "stories" which only last 24 hours and therefore no link is possible, but we have similarly preserved a copy.

» Update on "Weiser Strong Fund" campaign:

In response to an Instagram user privately asked Michael for financial details of the "Weiser Strong Fund Phase 1 Tack Shed with Wing" project. Instead of being transparent and forthcoming Michael's response was to directed the user to the ranch's lawyer (Royal J. Morton of McQuarrie Hunter LLP) and then he blocked the user. Sometime after our last capture of the Weiser Strong Fund GoFundMe campaign on November 5, 2024, Michael deleted the campaign from GoFundMe. For more details see our page Intimidation and Cyberbullying page describing this incident.

Return to donation summary.

• For reasons unknown Michael does not state his true address as the GoFundMe donation campaign Organizer, but instead publishes a different address: "Michael Lares, Lilburn, GA" (screenshot).
• The "Tilt Squeeze" appears to be the Horse Chute custom manufactured by "Flying W Livestock Equipment" in Watonga, Oklahoma as per their 2024 chute price list.

Return to top of inventory of fundraising campaigns.

Return to top of page.