Local charities holding their breath

Captain Lewis Reckline pointed to several long rows with thousands of cardboard boxes in The Salvation Army's Christmas Depot in Virginia Beach. n "All these boxes are families waiting to be served," said Reckline, who is the Tidewater area commander for The Salvation Army.

A few dozen yards away in the toy section of the depot, he pointed to fewer - and shorter - rows. Gifts and clothes for older children and teens are in particularly short supply.

Do they have enough to fill the boxes by Saturday, the last day the center will distribute gifts before Christmas?

"No, we don't," Reckline said Wednesday.

Donations to The Salvation Army's signature red kettle drive are down $20,000 from this time last year, he said.

The Salvation Army and other charities are feeling the double whammy of lower donations and greater need caused by an economy shaken by the national mortgage foreclosure crisis, higher gas prices, higher health care costs... higher everything, it seems.

The most dramatic effects are being felt by nonprofit organizations that focus on holiday giving, but there's evidence of tighter times throughout Hampton Roads.

"We're holding our breath," said Cheryl Marks, executive director of the YWCA of South Hampton Roads, which runs a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence.

The YWCA's December numbers aren't in yet, Marks said, but earlier this year they noticed sponsors of a fundraising golf tournament were having to scale back their contributions. "They said things were tighter and that next year they were going to be tight," she said.

The organization decided against raising entry fees for the 2008 tournament after people who usually took part in the past "were a little bit iffy about whether they would participate," Marks said. "It wasn't like, 'Oh yeah, no big deal.' "

Mike Hughes, president and chief executive of the United Way of South Hampton Roads, is still hopeful the nonprofit will make its fundraising goal of about $14 million by early spring. The organization, which distributes funds to nonprofit groups throughout the area, is about 80 percent of the way to that goal.

"The pacing is a little bit slower than in years past," Hughes said. "But it's still plugging right along."

Some organizations report contributions are keeping up with years past. "Our donations have been very consistent," said Kathy Prendergast, executive director of Cerebral Palsy of Virginia. "Our budget is right on schedule."

Fundraisers at universities also say they haven't been significantly hurt by fears of an economic downturn.

"We have found that the really, really large benefactor is not terribly affected by the vagaries of the economy," said Bob Sweeney, the senior vice president for development at the University of Virginia. However, some donors at the six-figure-or-lower level "are not saying no, but they're asking to think about it a little longer."

Sweeney still expects the university to match the $302 million it raised in its previous fiscal year ended June 30.

Eastern Virginia Medical School's fundraising is "actually a little bit ahead of where we've been in past years," said Doug Gardner, the school's director of news and publications.

Norfolk State University completed its $15.4 million fund drive in June, said Phillip Adams, the interim vice president for university advancement. A phone campaign, to begin next month, will provide an indicator of how much the economy has crimped charitable giving, he said.

Linda Hollingsworth already knows the economy has had a negative effect on The Virginian-Pilot's Joy Fund, a charity that raises money to buy holiday toys.

"We're about $30,000 short of where we were last year at this time, and we have 1,100 more children we need to help," said Hollings-worth, a marketing specialist at The Pilot.

She said there are fewer donors so far this year and those who are giving have scaled back, often leaving notes with their contributions. They're saying, "I didn't have as much to give, but I'm giving what I can," Hollingsworth said.

The Salvation Army is working in conjunction with the Joy Fund, the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program and Operation Blessing to bring toys, clothing and food to their clients. Reckline said he has 700 more requests from families in need of help than last year.

"We do see a decline in the amount of items being purchased," Reckline said, and some of the children in the organization's Angel Tree program "are not getting picked at all."

Reckline said they're having especially acute shortages of clothing and toys for older children and teens as well as for infants.

About the only thing they don't need more of is food, Reckline said.

With food drives a holiday rite, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the one time of year that the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia is not struggling against the specter of empty shelves.

"We're picking up food drives every day this week," said Jan Cline, a spokesman for the food bank. "Our real crisis then begins in January."

Staff writer Philip Walzer contributed to this report.

Nancy Young, (757) 446-2947, nancy.young@pilotonline.com