By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
MAJOR charitable organisations saw a decrease in donations of up to 20 per cent this past Christmas, with Hurricane Joaquin relief efforts thought to have already strained the pockets of potential donors.
Major Clarence Ingram, divisional commander for the Salvation Army, told Tribune Business that donations this past Christmas “certainly weren’t as high as last year”.
He said: “We struggled somewhat. Our donations certainly weren’t as high as last year. Maybe with the economy being what it is, and with such a high demand to assist with the hurricane victims, those things might have put an additional strain on everyone’s pockets.
“Donations were down significantly from last year. I would estimate it was down about 20 per cent, though we haven’t done the final calculations as yet.”
Major Ingram added: “We haven’t done the totals as yet; we are trying to finalise the invoices, but it will create a challenge for us in the coming months because we rely on those funds not only for Christmas but to support us in the coming months as well.
“We tried to do as much as we could for the storm victims. The two appeals, the storm and Christmas, are really separate but, of course, it comes from the same pockets.”
Caroline Turnquest, director general of the Bahamas Red Cross, told Tribune Business: “For us it [Christmas] sort of blended right into the operation we had going with the hurricane response.
“There are a number of persons from the Family Islands who are still here. They were coming repeatedly to get items from us. We were also able to send out our usual Christmas packages to the islands with the exception of one. Donations came in heavily for disaster response.”
She added: “With regards to the general fund it was as usual. We have had an increase in walk-ins, persons coming in for assistance. We have our regular ‘meals on wheels’ recipients, and that number increased as well because we have been actively seeking persons, so we were almost networking to find persons for that programme who were in need of that type of assistance. The ‘meals and wheels’ recipients and walk-ins have increased.”
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