Salvation Army hopes for generosity amid slump in donations

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Salvation Army was hoping for a good Christmas, but a drop in donations has caused concerns heading into 2024.

Major Tim Meyer, the Grand Valley commander, said the Salvation Army did not make their fundraising goal last year and this year they are still short hundreds of thousands of dollars.

People really rely on the good deeds of The Salvation Army, so to be so short even after the holidays boom is greatly concerning.

“We are about $240,000 behind at this point last year. So, we are still concerned,” said Meyer.

‘Concerned’: Salvation Army donations down significantly

The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign did better in 2023 than in previous years, but overall donations are down going into 2024.

“Where we seem to be lacking are those people who are making year-end donations through their donor advised funds, IRA’s, or simply people mailing in year-end donations,” Meyer said.

He is hoping people will remember and donate to their cause.

“Now that they made it through the Christmas season, people are probably paying their bills and they realize the sky hasn’t fallen and maybe now they are able to see that they have some funds, some gifts left,” said Meyer.

With donations down, Salvation Army of Kalamazoo asks for help

Donations support community resources that families heavily rely on.

“They support our housing services and things that we do with our food pantry, helping folks with utility assistance, we have rehab programs for people who have suffered through enslaving substances and those go on year-round,” Meyer said.

The need for assistance has grown but donations have decreased.

“We are seeing more and more people come to us for assistance and some months we had a 200% increase in our food pantry usage. We’ve had many demands for services for housing,” Meyer said.

Families and the unhoused population rely on the Salvation Army.

“Some people have been working and living in their cars and they’ve been trying to scratch enough together, and we come alongside and make calls to landlords, whatever we can do to help them get into a home,” said Meyer.

“Once children get back to school and those who have had a real struggle during the Christmas holidays, we anticipate will be coming that second week in January and we are just gearing up for what we seen before Christmas,” Meyer said.

That is many people in need of resources or community support. There is still time to donate.

“The easiest thing for us to be able to utilize are financial contributions that are given to us. There are other ways to give. We have an adult rehab program and if people have household goods that they can take to our family stores that helps in some ways,” said Meyer.

The campaign runs until the end of January, so there is still time to help the Salvation Army reach its goal. Anything helps and goes a long way in another’s life.

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