Charitable Donors Feel Recession Pinch : * Contributions Are Dwindling at the Very Time the Need for Them Is Increasing
If you look down the lists of major donors to most of the county’s charitable organizations you will find many of the same names. There’s a cadre of corporations and public-spirited individuals and businesses who have always been there.
They’re still there, for the most part. But because of the toughening economic conditions in the county, their checkbooks aren’t as open as they used to be for private, charitable organizations. As one board member of a leading private group so bluntly, but aptly, put it, “Our regular donors are truly tapped out at this point.”
Most residents can understand “the why” of that predicament. But what they also must understand is that while the private charities are facing decreasing contributions to support their critical work, the demand for those services is growing dramatically. The large number of people out of work, the pinch of the recession on Orange County’s economy, and government cuts in their social service programs have widened the difference between what the charities need and what they are receiving.
For example, the Salvation Army reports a 50% to 70% increase in the number of people seeking its help. At Anaheim’s Independencia Community Center, about 50% more people are coming to a free lunch program for seniors. A few weeks ago, Orange County’s United Way dug down for $216,000 out of its “safety net” reserve funds to help 36 hard-hit social agencies, prompting one United Way official to note that times are so tough that many people who used to contribute are now on the receiving end.
This shortage of contributions is putting charities under more pressure to find innovative ways to raise money or face critical cutbacks in their programs.
For instance, next Sunday a group of the county’s most celebrated chefs are stifling their competitive juices and getting together at the Ritz Restaurant, with its owner Hans Prager, to present a special dinner to help Share Our Selves pay off its mortgage.
SOS is one of the front-line private agencies (and the largest) in the county helping the homeless and needy with food, money, shelter and medical care. It operates primarily on unsolicited private donations, so it relies heavily on steady community support from the community.
That kind of special effort is needed in difficult financial times. Without that support, SOS, the United Way and hundreds of charitable groups will be doing without, and the more of our needy residents who do without, the poorer all of us become.
