It’s a situation the Salvation Army is calling “urgent” as their annual Kettle Campaign is nowhere near its fundraising goal for the year.
The Kettle Campaign has a target fundraising goal of $1.25 million, but with just 10 days left until Christmas they’ve only raised $390,000 – about 30 per cent.
“Demand is high for our services this time of year and this final week is crucial to meeting our goal,” Lt. Col. Larry Martin said in a release.
It’s a similar story at the Calgary Food Bank. They’re seeing an increase in need but a decrease in cash donations.
“We have seen that donations are down. There is a wee bit of a dip on our financial donations,” Shawna Ogston said.
“Here we are again, it’s December. We’re seeing an increased need. We typically see 5,000 hampers per month, we know we’re going to be doing 8,000 hampers per month,” she said.
This common theme of charities feeling the pinch is no surprise to economists. ATB Financial chief economist Todd Hirsch said despite signs of an economy rebounding, there are still families who have not recovered.
“There is some evidence out there that people are being a little tighter with their dollars,” Hirsch said.
“The reality is the unemployment rate is still above eight per cent, there are families out there that are feeling the stress.”
Hirsch also said in response to cash-dependent fundraisers, it could be that many people nowadays aren’t carrying cash.