Demand is up and donations are down at Bradenton charities. Here’s how you can help

Ready or not, the holiday season is fast approaching.

As families begin to figure out their own holiday financial strategies in the wake of a months-long pandemic that drained bank accounts for many, the trickle-down impact of COVID-19 is concerning to local charities that depend on the generosity of donors to help the needy.

During the pandemic, needs will surge while resources are dwindling.

Nonprofits are doing what everyone else is doing: adapting to the pandemic as best they can, according to Susie Bowie, executive director of the Manatee Community Foundation.

Bowie said many of the organizations are working on virtual fundraising events, but there is a lot of uncertainty that comes with the absence of in-person events.

Bowie also said the nonprofit arts and museums are getting hit particularly hard because a shrinking list of donors have concentrated their charitable efforts on health and human services agencies amid the pandemic. Bowie said while the CARES Act funding has helped thus far, it won’t offset overall revenue shortfalls going forward.

“We have seen many agencies using their collaborative powers to make a greater impact,” Bowie said. “Manatee County government has been hosting a call on food insecurity and a call on homelessness every week since the pandemic started. This has helped us, and all participating organizations, work together for the greatest good.”

Fears are growing as resources dry up and the donor base shrinks.

“There is a general concern about donor fatigue and donor fear, as nonprofits work to understand how giving may be impacted by the personal financial situations of donors or their concern for family members who may require financial assistance,” Bowie said.

Inexpensive ways to help

There are inexpensive ways to help offset what is sure to be a tough holiday season for some Manatee County families, but now more than ever, efforts to consolidate a donor base is key, according to Laura Licoski, founder of Facing Homelessness Bradenton.

Licoski has been vocal about how good intentions are actually harmful when there are too many local charitable efforts operating independently. The end result is spreading donations and volunteers too thinly, hurting efforts, not helping them, she said.

“It’s like having a McDonald’s on every corner of an intersection,” Licoski said. “Who is that really going to benefit?”

Some local charities have been able to continue to provide essential services through a variety of grants, particularly through the federal government’s CARES Act.. But those dollars are quickly running out and only cover unexpected expenses related to the pandemic.

And as a congressional standoff continues on a new round of relief, the light of the holiday season is growing dim.

Licoski said not every donation needs to hit people’s pockets hard. She does the annual One Warm Coat event, which collects donated coats for the needy. This year’s event is Dec. 5 at Turning Points in Bradenton.

“This year we are running into a lot of problems because of a lack of donations,” Licoski said. “We’ve had a lot of people on lock down because of COVID in schools. We aren’t going to be able to do a lot of the coat drives, so we really need the community to rally around this event. Speak to your coworkers, your friends, your family and go ahead and do your own coat drives.”

Licoski is willing to pick up coats collected from neighborhood drives or provide options of how to get the donations to her. Send a message on her Facing Homelessness Bradenton Facebook page.

Volunteers are in short supply

Volunteers are getting hard to come by during the pandemic, but giving of your time is an easy way to give without personal cost.

“Charities are struggling for volunteers and struggling for product,” Licoski said. “The more you have so many people in the community that want to help, is actually hurting the issue right now because they are opening up their donation sites instead of just one person going to Turning Points to drop off clothing donations or food. You are now spacing the volunteer base into different events instead of just into one. Because of that, we are running out of product all around in all of the nonprofits.”

Kathleen Cramer, executive director of Turning Points, said the homeless services agency is still in decent financial shape from the CARES Act to provide essential services, but not much else. The funding was essentially to help cover costs related specifically to the pandemic, such as purchasing thermometers, masks and partitions.

“The additional funding has been for items that were not budgeted for, and are a result of the pandemic,” Cramer said. “The greatest challenge with fundraising has been due to cancellation of our annual fundraising events. These are a mainstay we can count on each year to bring in approximately $180,000 into the organization.”

Business sponsorships also are down significantly due to financial hardships created by closures during the pandemic. Cramer said simple, but essential things like travel-size hygiene products are getting scarce, “possibly because people aren’t traveling. Hotels don’t have excess to share.”

Cramer said overall reductions in donations and volunteers are hitting the agency hard.

“We rely on a large team of steady volunteers to provide our services,” she said. “We are down 49% from last year in volunteers due to the pandemic.”

Like the coat drives, there are ways people can still help without financially hurting themselves, although monetary donations remain essential for nonprofits to achieve their yearly goals. Cramer said people can clean out their closets of coats, sweatshirts, pants, shirts, shoes, hats and belts.

To donate products, or coats directly to the One Warm Coat event, contact Turning Points volunteer coordinator Cheryl Hedges at 941-747-1509, to learn about drop off or pick up options. Turning Points is located at 701 17th Ave. W. across from LECOM Field. You can also visit their website at tpmanatee.org.

And while actual dollars makes the nonprofit world go round, Cramer said it certainly doesn’t have to be a large gift.

“If everyone in our community donated $5 to a charity of their choice, it would made a significant difference,” she said.

Chris Johnson, CEO of Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness said there was a surge of donations early in the pandemic as it became clear that people would be hurt by closures, but those donations have tapered off significantly. He recognizes the difficult challenges people are facing in giving through these difficult times.

“It is normal human nature to hold back a bit as households became more concerned about their ability to provide basic necessities for themselves,” Johnson said. “But this does affect the normal flow of donated goods and services our community is accustom to receiving.”

Johnson, too, said there are inexpensive ways to help.

“If we can look around our homes and ask two questions, ‘Is there something that has not been touched in six months?’ and the follow up question, ‘Could I donate that?’ We might find we can meet our community’s need,” he said.

Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness also needs to see clothing, toys and food banks restored in order to fill immediate needs, as well during the coming holidays.

“Also with the delay on those seasonal residents coming to Florida, I am concerned that the volume of donations will not pick up as quickly as it usually does during the holidays,” Johnson said. “It will be incumbent on us, the permanent residents, to pick up that slack and provide for our fellow Suncoast citizens and each other during the holidays.”

Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, based in Sarasota but active in Manatee County, can be reached by calling 941-955-8987.

Salvation Army worries about holidays

Many nonprofits rely on holiday charity to meet their annual goals and perhaps more than most is the Salvation Army. Kelly French, community outreach director for the Manatee County Salvation Army said regular donors have kept them afloat through the pandemic, but she said holiday programs may suffer.

The Salvation Army nearly doubled its annual Giving Challenge intake in April and continued donations helped through the summer. But over the last two months, donations have dropped off significantly.

“And we are concerned about what the holidays will bring,” French said.

The annual kettle bell ringers seen at local stores makes up a big part of the Salvation Army’s financial needs for the year for its shelter program. The pandemic may have shoppers becoming used to online shopping and curbside pickups instead of going to the store with cash in their pockets.

French said also concerning is the reduction in the use of cash because of fears it can transmit the coronavirus.

“Our kettle campaign is a key component of our budget to support our shelter services,” French said. “We are preparing to ring bells at all Manatee County Publix, Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Hobby Lobby stores, but approvals are coming in slowly. We’re making changes to our ‘regular’ kettle plans and purchasing face shields for each bell ringer, wipes and hand sanitizer to keep at each kettle location to keep our bell ringers and donors safe. These measures may change/increase based on any particular requests by the stores.”

To offset what is expected to be a concerning kettle year, the Salvation Army has added Google Pay and Apple Pay tags to their kettles for those who do not want to use cash. Those links are available at salvationarmybradenton.org on the Rescue Christmas page where donations can be made, as well as volunteer sign ups.

You can also call 941-748-5110 for more information.

Donations are down but requests for things like the annual Angel Tree and Adopt-A-Family programs are going up.

The online applications for the Adopt-A-Family program that began Sept. 14 saw 1,000 children sign up within the first 24 hours. French said she expects that number to double.

Another concern is whether the Salvation Army will be able to get their Angel Trees into some businesses that remain closed to foot traffic.

Rescue Christmas campaign

As a result, the Salvation Army has launched a “Rescue Christmas” campaign to get the word out about these kind of concerns as the holidays approach while the pandemic continues.

“Having gifts for each and every child in the program is important, but we’ll need the help of the community to adopt these angels,” French said. “We will also be needing volunteers to help in our toy shop to prepare all of these gifts for our distribution day. Many of our regular season volunteers have concerns about coming to volunteer onsite, others are seasonal residents still deciding if and when they will be in Florida this winter.”

French said the Salvation Army is focused on two goals right now.

“To have a successful Angel Tree campaign. Each and every child registered will receive gifts this holiday season,” she said. “This takes the donors who provide the gifts, or money to purchase gifts as well as volunteers to help in our toy shop.”

Secondly, “To have a successful bell ringing/Red Kettle campaign that will help provide funds for our shelter programs in 2021. All signs are pointing that we will be granted permission to ring, however, with safeguards in place. We need the shoppers to come to the stores and make a stop at our kettle. Donors can mail donations to our office or donate online,” French said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 9:21 AM.