CHARITIES HURTING FROM LOW DONATIONS.

Byline: Associated Press 

Ventura County charities are enjoying fewer holiday contributions than in recent years, and officials worry that they might not have enough to provide for the county's hungry, homeless and poor.

Some believe an unusually late Thanksgiving has caught usual donors unprepared for the Christmas season. Others blame lingering remnants of the economic recession that gripped the county in the early 1990s.

``I don't know what the problem is this year, but donations are down,'' said Carol Roberg, associate director of the Ventura County Rescue Mission.

Money has continued to flow into the Rescue Mission to help house the homeless and build a larger shelter in Oxnard, she said. But donations of toys and secondhand clothing are down from last year.

``Toys for Tots just called us and they are way down, too,'' said Roberg, who helped coordinate a large-scale distribution of Christmas presents for needy children Saturday. ``We have only about a quarter of the children's gifts that we had last year.''

Last week, the American Red Cross of Ventura County issued a plea for donations, noting that the chapter's disaster relief fund has been drained by an unusually high number of house fires.

``We are just six months into our fiscal year and we've spent well over $35,000 of our $51,000 budget,'' said Richard Rink, the chapter's director of disaster services.

The drop in donations may reflect public suspicions that cash contributions are devoured by administrative costs before they can reach the poor, some charity experts said.

Pauline Saterbo, administrator of the Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank, which feeds about 3,000 people each month, said that although the pantry shelves are full, the cash drawer is running low.

``We are in desperate need of cash donations, so we can buy chicken and ground beef and eggs and lunch meat,'' she said. ``We want to make sure everyone has a well-rounded meal.''

David Harris, a United Way of Ventura County vice president, said the 1990s have been a rough adjustment for a charity clearinghouse that funded 62 agencies last year.