HARD TIMES FOR GIVING DISASTERS, ECONOMIC WOES A DOUBLE-WHAMMY FOR HARD-PRESSED SOUTHLAND CHARITIES.Byline: Barbara Correa Staff Writer People giving money to charity traditionally open their wallets the widest from Thanksgiving through Christmas. But this year, Southern Californians may find their generosity being met with requests for more. The loss of thousands of homes to wildfires last month is siphoning off donation dollars that would normally go toward Thanksgiving dinners and shelter for the homeless, help with utility payments and school lunches for needy kids. On top of that, supermarket and Metropolitan Transportation Authority labor actions have hurt incomes for those workers, further swelling demand for assistance. And this is all against the backdrop of several years of a slow or no-growth job market, squeezing the nonprofit sector from all sides. Demand is up and supply is down, said Darin Hoffman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Regional Food Bank, the second largest in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , located in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. . The bank provides food to a thousand individual charities throughout Los Angeles County. ``This time of year there's a rush on demand because charities want to provide an extra something for the holidays,'' he said. But the slow economy and job market is also a factor. ``We saw a big bubble with 9-11, there was an increase (in demand) from hotels and airlines because of layoffs.'' Those industries still haven't rehired employees who were let go during the tourism and hospitality downturn, said Joe Haggerty, president of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which relies primarily on small employee payroll contributions for funding. Weak industries have been largely offset by healthy donations from employees at aerospace companies and financial institutions, which are faring relatively well. But the loss of contributions from some of the 70,000 sidelined supermarket workers in California won't help. ``If they're not working, we don't even have a chance to talk to them,'' said Haggerty. ``I think they're going to be more on the recipient side than the giving side.'' ``We need help,'' said Beverly Earl, San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. regional director of Catholic Charities. ``We already had a problem before the fires. We have 17,000 homeless people in San Bernardino County. ... Funds that would be flowing now are being diverted to the disaster.'' For example, Catholic Charities will cover a month at a motel in Victorville for six families of renters who were displaced by fires near Big Bear. Renters are not eligible for the same Red Cross aid as homeowners or business owners, said Debbie Swadener, one of the fire victims. With corporate, foundation and government donations down substantially this year, charities will be turning to individual consumers to keep the coffers filled. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. tax itemizations, Californians give an average $4,100 a year to charitable organizations, above the national average of $3,000, according to Charity Navigator Charity Navigator is an independent, non-profit organization that evaluates American charities. Their stated goal is "to advance a more efficient and responsive philanthropic marketplace by evaluating the financial health of America's largest charities. , a Web-based research organization that rates charities based on their management efficiency. Relative to income, however, Californians are stingier than more than half the other states. The ``Catalogue for Philanthropy'' 2003 generosity index ranks California 29th in the United States, based on a ``having'' rank of 6 and a ``giving'' rank of 17. ``(California) is not pulling its weight,'' said Trent Stamp, executive director of Charity Navigator. ``The South is way ahead of any other region; the Northeast is the worst. California is a bit of an anomaly in the West. ``Giving fluctuates more than in other states because it's more tied to political causes,'' he said. ``... Right now the groups doing the best are the large environmental groups, the Sierra Clubs.'' Charity Navigator is forecasting overall giving to drop 10 percent this year after falling 2 percent to 3 percent last year. The decline is almost entirely because of decreased corporate and foundation giving, with personal contributions expected to ease just a few percentage points. The organization blames slowing refinancing activity, weak job growth and tepid consumer confidence for that decline. On the corporate side, giving is based on assets, so lower investment returns have left every organization down, Stamp said. In addition, budget pressures have weakened local government giving, again leaving it to the individual to cough up for charity. But they have problems of their own. Claudia Urbino, mother of an elementary school elementary school: see school. boy in Covina, said her Parent-Teacher Association parent-teacher association Noun an organization consisting of the parents and teachers of school pupils formed to organize activities on behalf of the school decided to keep holiday gift basket A gift basket, or fruit basket is typically a gift that is delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace. There are different varieties of gift baskets, some which have fruit only, some with dry/canned goods only (such as tea, crackers and jam) although the standard donations to $5 apiece because everyone is on a tight budget. The weak economy also prompted her to reduce her weekly tithe tithe Contribution of a tenth of one's income for religious purposes. The practice of tithing was established in the Hebrew scriptures and was adopted by the Western Christian church. to her Baptist church in Baldwin Park Baldwin Park, city (1990 pop. 69,330), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, in the fertile San Gabriel valley; settled 1870, inc. 1956. Its industries include metal fabrication, printing, and plastics manufacturing. . ``We've had to cut back a little in the last few years,'' she said. The long-term effect of a lower donation base and now the fire recovery won't be known anytime soon, said Carol Baker, president of Mount Baldy Mount Baldy or Baldy Mountain may refer to:
``We provide shelter, meal services, counseling, disabled services, help to medical clinics, child care,'' she said. ``When we have something like (the fires) occur, all those are impacted. There's a ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. . The entire nonprofit sector was and is involved.'' Baker said people need to realize that the fires are over but the recovery can take several years, because people who didn't have adequate insurance couldn't get enough help from federal sources. So giving now will go toward long-term recovery in addition to immediate need. Charity directors say the best way for people to help is by giving consistently, regardless of the size of the contribution. ``Where you have a commitment yourself, whether it's to Easter Seals Easter Seals is an international charitable organization devoted to providing opportunities for children with physical disabilities. See
``A corporation or business might send a $10,000 gift - it's great to receive. But the power is in that consistent $25 we get every month.'' Barbara Correa, (818) 713-3634 barbara.correa(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: no caption (money falling into collection container next to hand ringing a bell) Box: (1) RICH IN GENEROSITY SOURCE: Catalogue for Philanthropy (2) GIVE A LITTLE, GET A LITTLE SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service (3) TYPES OF CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service Daily News |
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