Dwindling Donations Have Shelters Worried

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-11-09 21:01:00 UTC
Topics:

It's no secret that our punch drunk economy is having a devastating effect on people across the country. Homelessness has increased in every major city and shelters are stretched thin financially.

Today, the Salt Lake City Tribune reports that donations of food, clothing, and toiletries are in short supply. Could this mean that shelters will be short on necessary goods during the cold winter months?

According to the Salt Lake City Tribune:

As families struggle to pay their own bills, many agencies that rely on Utahns' generosity are seeing their donors scale back what they give and, in some cases, not give at all. Even organizations that remain fairly well stocked are worrying about the months ahead.

"When you see a drop-off like this, it tells you how much people are hurting," said Charlene Orchard, Utah Volunteers of America's director of volunteers. "We'll get used underwear as opposed to new ... it's not something we can give out as easily."

Fewer blankets and jackets, also needed for their homeless outreach program, have been dropped off. A few of the callers who have offered to donate furniture have been facing foreclosure of their own homes.

This is a troubled time unlike any nonprofits have seen in years. Many groups said they have faith in Utahns' spirit of giving, but couldn't deny lingering anxiety. Donations are critical to most organizations' ability to serve the public and operate day-to-day.

Let this be a call to action, Changemakers! It doesn't take a lot of effort to hold a canned food drive (food shelters across the country are in desperate need of goods right now), a toiletry supply drive, or a used coat collection.

Be creative. There are plenty of ways you can help stock the shelves of your local homeless shelter. [And if you're short on ideas, call your local shelter and find out what they need most. They'll be happy to hear from you and grateful for your help... guaranteed!]

If you do something to help your local shelter, I want to know about it. Email me at shannon@change.org.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Debunking NIMBY-ism: Study Finds Supportive Housing is a Good Neighbor
NEXT STORY:
Is the NCAA Putting Student Athletes at Risk?

COMMENTS (4)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.