Santa Ana : Salvation Army Finds Clothing Donations Lag

Donations of clothing to the Salvation Army in Orange County during the past two months have been lower than anticipated, officials said Wednesday, leading them to ask Salvation Army officials in other cities for help.

Maj. Edwin Henderson, administrator for the Salvation Army’s thrift store operation in Orange County, said the donations are down 25% from projected totals for early 1986.

Henderson said that late December and early January were usually the best times in the year for donations to the Salvation Army, but for unknown reasons, donations of clothing and other materials were substantially down.

The organization takes clothing and other donations, refurbishes them if needed, and sells the goods at the thrift stores at low prices.

Because of the lower amount of donations, Henderson said, the Orange County operation has had to send to Salvation Army posts in Phoenix and San Francisco for merchandise to be placed in the 12 thrift stores in the county.

In addition, the Orange County operation has suffered from burglaries and a fire at the Santa Ana thrift store near the corner of 1st and Fairview streets, said Ronald Carr, the army’s Orange County director of community relations.