Holiday donations to Calgary charities are down
Posted Dec 3, 2010 10:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter is struggling in this tight economy.
Its donations are down twenty per cent, which is especially hard this time of year.
The facility has expanded to accommodate fifty women and children, who are in crisis and transition.
Maureen O’Connor with the organization tells CTV, staff are struggling to make ends meet financially.
She says half of their operating budget comes from government sources and organizations like the United Way, but the other half comes from individual donations and corporations.
Staff at the shelter say Christmas plans will go ahead, but it will be a difficult new year if donations don’t pick up.
Meanwhile, another Alberta charity is also having a tough time meeting its holiday donation target this year.
With only four weeks to go until Christmas, the Lung Association’s Christmas Seal campaign has barely reached one third of its goal.
So far, only $350,000 of it’s $900,000 target has been raised. Christmas Seal donations provide research and resource funding for lung ailments.
Dr. Brent Winston tells CTV, this dropping trend is setting off alarms for charities right across the country and as any organization that deals with health-related issues, they need to have the resources to be responsive to the public who have these diseases.
Donations are down because of the recession, as well as the federal government’s crackdown on illegal tax shelters.
