'Affluent Beggars' Soliciting In Philly Suburbs

EXTON, PA — It's the giving season, and while Philly-area residents are feeling charitable, there is some reason for pause regarding a mother and daughter who are asking for money locally.

According to a Patch reader, the "Affluent Beggars" have been spotted at a local Whole Foods Market.

The "Affluent Beggars" are led by Elyse Pancoast, of Brewster, Massachusetts, according to a GoFundMe campaign.

Social media users have been accusing them of running a "scam" that takes advantage of people's generosity. And "affluent beggar" is not a pejorative term foisted on them by the online mob: it's a term her partner coined and embraced decades ago.

Pancoast seeks donations for her daughter, Adrianne, who was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer called a medulloblastoma, according to the campaign, which launched on July 5, 2012. As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, the campaign has raised more than $309,000 from about 6,000 donors.

The mother-daughter duo were seen at the Exton Whole Foods over the weekend, a user on Nextdoor posted.

"The mom was handing out flyers with GoFundMe QR code," the user shared, asking fellow users if they were "legit or not."

West Whiteland Township Police Det. Sgt. Jeffrey McCloskey said the department has not received complaints from anyone about soliciting at the store.

"Whole Foods is pretty good about letting us know about troublesome soliciting," he said. "Soliciting in front of a store is not illegal. If a store allows it, it's ok."

A Facebook user on Nov. 6 posted about the two, saying they were soliciting donations outside a Giant grocery store in Conshohocken.

"A mother and daughter came up to me asking to donate to their go fund me towards the daughter’s medical bills," the user posted. "I told them I would when I got home… thank God I looked them up before I did. Turns out they have been traveling all around, making money off people for years using a fake sob story."

Others in the comments of that post reported seeing them at additional businesses in the area, including Devon, Newtown Square, Collegeville, and Blue Bell, while more users reported seeing them at a Trader Joe's in Philadelphia.

Newtown Township Police Cpt. John Newell said he could not recall receiving any reports of scams related to GoFundMe in recent years. While he said what they are doing may not be illegal, it could be seen as amoral and taking advantage of people's good will.

A post on the Cape Cod subreddit from about a year ago also reported the "Affluent Beggars" were working the area.

"A pretty convincing story of her daughter having a brain tumor and needing treatment at Dana Farber," the user said. She may have had one years ago, but I’m really skeptical of her current diagnosis/prognosis."

Similarly, a 3-year-old post on the Boston subreddit warns of one "Elyse Johnson" and her daughter, Adrianne.

"DO NOT give them money - they claim to enjoy this way of life and refuse to get or keep jobs," the post reads.

And about 10 years ago, 6ABC reporter Chad Pradelli was looking for an "Elyse Johnson."

"If you see this woman outside of a local store begging for money with her child, please contact me or Action News immediately," he said on social media. "She and her family call themselves "affluent beggars" who travel the country asking for money."

As mentioned above, the story about the "Affluent Beggars" goes back nearly 20 years now.

A 2006 article by Jennifer Margulis for the Mail Tribune in Oregon featured quotes from Elizabeth Johnson and Jason Pancoast. Margulis reported Johnson was born in Philadelphia and spent time in jail in Asland, Oregon for shoplifting. Facebook profiles for both Elizabeth Johnson and Elyse Pancoast feature photos of the same children. It's unclear if these accounts are, or were, being used by the same person.

The Instagram account "elysepancoast" with "Elyse Pancoast" in the "about" section first posted on April 17, 2018. That post is a video of a girl identifying herself as Adrianne, saying she's battling medulloblastoma and hopes to "inspire action."

The most recent post on the page is from Dec. 11 and features a slideshow of photos showing children and adults. The caption identifies the man as "Jason." Other photos show them at Chestnut Hill Hotel in Philadelphia. A representative for the hotel said they were unfamiliar with those names.

"If you’re an affluent beggar you stay in a hotel and eat a continental breakfast," Jason Pancoast was quoted as saying. "It makes it a lot easier to be philosophical about it."

Former Ashland, Oregon Mayor Alan DeBoer recounted his experience with Pancoast about 20 years ago around Christmastime.

"I was invested in fixing homelessness and went to a meeting about it," he said. "She was there with two great kids. She was really nice and worried about kids facing homelessness and was interested in fixing those issues."

After the meeting, DeBoer followed her out the door and gave her a few hundred dollars as a gift.

He recalled hearing Jason Pancoast was spotted in a BMW shortly after gifting her the cash.

"She was using the kids," he said. "I think he was using her."

While many people accused the "Affluent Beggars" of being scammers, it's unclear if they have committed any actual crimes, as no reports of charges being filed were available online.

Patch has reached out to GoFundMe, social media accounts with ties to Elyse Pancoast, and other local police departments and will update the story when additional information is made available.