Christmas Giving Lags for 3 Major Los Angeles Charities

Three major groups that collect toys, gifts and money for needy families around Los Angeles report a severe decline in contributions this year.

The flow of gifts to Toys for Tots, which is sponsored by the Marine Corps Reserve, slowed to a trickle last week in Los Angeles County as the nonprofit group reported that it had collected only about a quarter of the more than 400,000 gifts it received last year.

The Los Angeles Fire Department, which for 11 years has sponsored Toys for Needy Children, reported that it has collected slightly more than 20,000 toys at its 103 fire stations. Fire officials, who had set a goal of 40,000 toys this year, now do not expect to equal the 25,000 toys distributed last year.

Although the Salvation Army estimates that it will receive about $2 million in Southern California donations by the time the holiday season is over, that is a drop of about 20% from last year. Donations to the familiar kettles and from mail appeals are down $14,000 a day from last year, spokesman Dick DeMattos said.

The agencies say the blame is due, in large part, to a sharp drop in corporate contributions.

“Years ago it seemed like trucks were arriving weekly with contributions, now we don’t get nearly as many,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth Lewis, who runs the Los Angeles County Toys for Tots program. “We still require about 50,000 (more) toys just to meet basic requests, but our cupboards are bare.

“We have been out of toys since Thursday, and except for a few toys left in barrels, we don’t expect any major changes,” he said. “If kids haven’t received our toys by now, the chances are they will not receive them. We would be lucky if we get a few hundred in before Christmas.”

Gary Svider, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Toys for Needy Children campaign, said he has asked some nonprofit groups to postpone handing out gifts to needy children until after Christmas.

“We have not been able to fill all our requests, and we have asked some groups to delay their Christmas parties until the first week in January,” he said. “It has been very, very stressful and frustrating.

“We are not getting the flow of toys that we did last year. A lot of the major corporate sponsors and larger contributors have dropped out or are not supporting at the same level.”

At the same time, many of those who are in the business of collecting donations for the poor say that the need for charity has never been as great.

“We are hurting and if we hurt, then a lot of other people are hurting too,” said DeMattos of the Salvation Army in Los Angeles. “The larger gifts are slower in coming in.

“We don’t know why it’s so low. We thought we could blame it on the election, the change of administration or a shaky economy, but we don’t know.”

Nationwide, however, the Salvation Army estimates that it will raise close to $110 million this year, about 6% more than last year, according to a spokesman in the group’s headquarters in Verona, N.J. The projected increase will offset declines in donations in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, the spokesman said.

DeMattos noted that in Los Angeles, the group’s traditional holiday appeals for funds probably have lost some contributions to successful campaigns to help the homeless and Armenian earthquake victims.

Susan Scribner, who runs a consulting firm for charities and foundations in Los Angeles, said there also is a reluctance of some corporations to give during a time of financial uncertainty.

“There is less inclination today to sink money into foundations when many corporations are looking out for their own survival,” she said.

‘Degree of Unrest’

“There has been a degree of unrest in the corporate world,” agreed Lon M. Burns, president of the Southern California Assn. of Philanthropy, which monitors giving in the area. “Mergers, buyouts and the cost of defending against unfriendly takeovers has had some impact. One has to make money in order to give it. If profits are down, then it is harder to give money.”

The Marines’ Los Angeles branch of Toys for Tots began feeling the pinch last year when it found it difficult to replace the contribution of one former benefactor. The Broadway department store chain contributed $350,000 worth of toys in 1986 when it phased out its toy division. The next year, the company gave 60 stuffed bears valued at about $3,000.

Bank of America, another major benefactor, cut back its donations to Toys for Tots after last year collecting $1 million worth of toys from customers at its more than 850 branches in the state and then donating another $1 million in toys through a promotional campaign. The bank dropped the promotional campaign this year, but it is still allowing the branches to be used as drop-off points for toys. There is no accounting yet of those donations.

The Toys for Tots programs in New York, Baltimore, Washington and San Diego also reported decreases in gifts this year.

Major Donations

Despite the loss of some corporate contributors, the program--which last year collected in excess of 8 million toys at 200 Marine Corps locations throughout the country--continues to draw major donations from Mattel Inc., Six Flags Magic Mountain, Pepsico Inc., Hillshire Farms and many others firms nationally.

Under the Los Angeles Fire Department’s program, Santa delivers toys to various locations in the city, arriving on a fire truck with its lights flashing and sirens blaring.

The Fire Department’s Santa was scheduled to deliver about 1,800 toys to the children of the Aliso Village housing project in East Los Angeles on Wednesday but ran out the night before.

“There are so many children who really need a Christmas present, and they won’t have one now,” said Anita Moore, vice president of the residents council of Aliso Village.

“Many of these kids won’t have anything to call their own,” she said. “I raised five boys and even though we didn’t have much money, I always tried to give each of my children something they could call their own. It’s important.”