Tighter times don’t dampen
the spirit of giving
Even during an austere holiday season, Rockbridge County residents seem to be giving as much to charity as usual, if not more.
The United Way of Lexington-Rockbridge County, for example, has raised almost 64 percent of its $250,000 goal for this year’s campaign, ahead of last year at this time, according to Executive Director David Dax.
But giving to the organization, which funds a host of local charities, has been at that level for about two weeks now, so the gap with last year is narrowing.
“I’m getting a little concerned,” he said. “People are really having to dip into their resources to be able to donate.”
And the need is greater this year. For holiday gifts, some wish lists are focused mainly on basic supplies like soap and toothpaste. Irene Condie, who oversees the Star Tree of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Lexington, says the requests on this year’s tree are often for the simplest things.
“It’s for people who would otherwise be forgotten,” said Condie, who chairs St. Patrick’s Justice and Peace Committee.
The committee, which runs the Star Tree program, requests local humanitarian agencies to provide a list of names of elderly or disabled people in need, and then asks those people to write down on a star what their Christmas wishes are. This year, close to 200 stars are already up on the tree, Condie said. Members of the congregation pick a star and buy gifts requested on the individual wish list.
According to Condie, most people ask for basics such as soap, detergent, toothpaste and toothbrushes. She says that last year, a man was happy he had received a pair of socks that he hadn’t even asked for.
Meanwhile, at the Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA) food pantry, demand is greater than ever. The pantry is regularly open three days a week, but Projects Manager Barbara Kennedy says RARA will have to open the pantry a fourth day each week this month just to cope with the requests for aid.
“We’re just swamped,” Kennedy said.
In the last five years, requests have almost quadrupled. Just last month, 1,296 people sought food from the RARA pantry, an increase of about 38 percent over November 2007. But despite the steep increase in the number of requests, Steven Shultis, the supervisor, is expecting a good response from the traditionally generous Rockbridge community.
“Worried? I’m not,” he said. “It’s a challenge.”
Shultis says donations are coming in from many directions, including Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network and Virginia Hunters for the Hungry, a program that processes and delivers venison donated by hunters.
A recent national survey suggests that, even though Americans will spend less this holiday season, they will also be more generous with their donations to charities. The study, which polled more than 1,000 adult U.S. respondents, was conducted in October for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization.
Results showed that while seven in 10 adults would spend less money on holiday presents this year, about half said they would be more likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present.
At St. Patrick’s, Condie said she was worried that this year, some church members might not be able to give as generously as in the past. But she remains confident that the congregation will eventually come through and make the Star Tree wishes a reality.
“We basically are Christmas for some of those people,” Condie said.
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Produced by
Washington and Lee
journalism students.
Lead Supervisors:
Prof. Brian
Richardson
Prof. Indira Somani
Editing supervisor:
Prof. Doug
Cumming
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd