Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Maj. Dan L. Delaney, commanding officer of the organization's Roanoke unit, said this week that kettle contributions fell about $4,000 short of projections.
"Saturdays are our biggest days for bell-ringers," Delaney said. "And every Saturday, up until Christmas, it was relatively cold, rainy or had a lot of wind.
"People just did not stop to give."
The Salvation Army has not met its holiday season fund-raising goal of $400,000, Delaney said. Traditionally, however, a lot of people make donations after the close of the year, he said.
"Hopefully, they will this year," he said. "Maybe they have. I haven't been to the post office yet this morning."
The organization spent $4,000 more than it had coming in on food baskets for 3,100 families, checks for 400 elderly people and gifts for 10,000 individuals at nursing homes, jails and hospitals, Delaney said. All reflected increases in requests for services, he said.
"We haven't paid the bills yet but we're hoping, by the end of the year, we can make it up from other donations," he said. "We owe the people."
Three hundred of the Salvation Army's 9,600 units across the country have continued the kettle drive after Christmas, said Col. Leon Ferraez, national communications director for the Salvation Army's national headquarters. The Roanoke unit has not.
"Kettles are still out in many parts of the country," Ferraez said. "It's an unusual thing. But rather than turn anyone away we met the needs, then did extra fund raising after Christmas.
The Salvation Army nationally needed about $10 million more in donations to its Christmas Relief Fund than last year to meet a 2.5 percent increase in requests for services, Ferraez said. Salvation Army units nationwide raised $172 million last year and budgeted for $182 million this year to meet increased needs, he said.
Kettle donations this year are up - by about 5 percent, Ferraez said. Yet, total contributions are down about 1 percent.
"I think there are several problems," Ferraez said. "First, we had tremendous fund-raising efforts for disastrous efforts in floods in the Midwest and the fires in California. I think that impacted a little on giving.
"Secondly, the perception of the American public is that times are a lot better and there is not as much need as in previous years. When times are bad, people give more money."
Everywhere, increased or level contributions seem coupled with increased need.
Contributions to the Roanoke Area Ministries - which provides emergency financial assistance to Roanoke Valley residents - appear to be about the same this year as last year, said Julie Hollingsworth, executive director.
Yet, the organization will spend an all-time high amount this year on valley residents in need, she said. Nearly 78 percent of its funds went to meet the needs of the disadvantaged in the Roanoke Valley.
"There is definitely an increased demand for services, especially non-working people who need help with prescription medication because they can't get help anywhere else," Hollingsworth said.
The Rescue Mission of Roanoke had a slight increase in contributions this year. But with the mission expanding its services to include a learning center and a farm retreat, plus more people seeking shelter and food, "we're trying to budget what we have in such a way that what we have goes further than before," said Joy Sylvester-Johnson, the mission's director of development.
"We had 21 children in the shelter last night," she said Thursday. "And taking care of families requires more - more medicine, more diapers, more food and more staff. In the last five years, the number of families we see has increased tremendously and we're having to put more resources into it."
by CNB