Tucson Region

Calling all donors: Need is great

Teams Tuna and Mac and Cheese are looking strong, but Team Sweet Potatoes could weigh in big by the new year. Kitty Ufford-Chase, faith community coordinator for the Tucson Community Food Bank, is rooting for all the holiday food teams - a variety of religious congregations she has assembled for a first-ever competition to meet holiday needs. The Food Bank and other charities that have increased demand at Thanksgiving and Christmas are concerned that a year of national and international disasters could hinder giving at a time when it's needed most. One in five Pima County residents will need the service of the Food Bank at least once during the year, which is higher than the national average, according to officials at the local Food Bank. Also, about 4,300 homeless people are in Tucson on any given night, according to the local nonprofit Primavera Foundation, and that's twice the number of local shelter beds. Food Bank officials are particularly anxious because this is the first time in 19 years that they have not solicited donations through the Holiday Sharing Center, which used to provide families with holiday food boxes through donation boxes at El Con Mall. Last year the program moved to Foothills Mall, but mostly due to the utility expenses the malls were charging. This year there will be no Holiday Sharing Center. Instead, the Food Bank will handle the need, providing about 8,500 food boxes for Thanksgiving and 10,000 for Christmas. "It's a very unusual year," said Sherie Steele, the Food Bank's director of development. "What happened with Hurricane Katrina is that food donations from big manufacturers that overproduce went to hurricane relief. That's why we're asking local grocers and restaurants and individual people." The main thing the Holiday Sharing Center did was provide exposure to the need for public help in supplying Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to Pima County families that couldn't afford them, Steele said. That's part of the reason the Food Bank and the Salvation Army, which also was part of the Holiday Sharing Center, are stepping up their message to the public. The other reason is that the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Pakistan have been tapping donors' wallets all year, giving all local charities reason for worry. "Donations are down," said Jan Stonebraker, development coordinator for the Travelers Aid Society of Tucson. "We've sent out letters to past donors and just now are calling people, and many aren't able. People say they can only do so much." Travelers Aid helps more than 12,000 people each year who are homeless or near homeless, nearly half of them children. "We're having to work a little harder to raise money and awareness that we need help for our clients," Stonebraker added. "Everybody is stressed, but these are local people, and they need our help." Ufford-Chase is looking to the city's 600 religious congregations to help with holiday needs. So far, 13 have signed on, but many are reporting they already are stretched thin with other obligations. "We're not quite sure what will happen when the holidays are over," Ufford-Chase said. The Food Bank distributes the equivalent of 30,000 meals in Pima County each day to 400 agencies that serve people in crisis, as well as poor and elderly people. The Salvation Army and the Primavera Foundation, which both help homeless Tucsonans, say they still need donations to get through the busy Christmas season. "This year got off to a late start," said Tamara McElwee, Salvation Army spokeswoman. "I think the holidays caught everyone by surprise. The weather has been so beautiful, and I don't think everyone realized the holidays are around the corner." The Salvation Army is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church today. McElwee said the Salvation Army's greatest need now is for its Adopt-a-Family Christmas program, to give Christmas dinner and gifts to local families, and the Angel Tree program, to give toys to children. Also, the Salvation Army will serve Christmas dinner at the Tucson Convention Center to an estimated 2,000 walk-ins, plus distribute hundreds of take-home boxes to families. "No one will go hungry at Thanksgiving, but we are trying to get the word out for Christmas," McElwee said. "The Adopt-a-Family program has been slower. It's a harder season, and we need to raise the word - we're just weeks away." Families that meet federal poverty guidelines must submit applications for the Adopt-a-Family program. So far, there are 350 applications - but only 75 sponsors. "A lot of them are families that have fallen on hard times. The parents are out of work, and they don't know how to get money to put gifts under the tree," McElwee said. "It grows every year. We are seeing a larger number of big families, which is unfortunate - a lot of single moms with lots of kids." The Primavera Foundation also is set for Thanksgiving, but donations for Christmas have been slow, chief development officer Deborah Dale said. The foundation helps about 8,000 people per year with services ranging from emergency shelter to transitional and affordable housing. Dale said the average homeless person walks 10 miles a day in shoes that don't fit, so one major item Primavera always needs is new socks, as well as hats, gloves, playing cards and hand-held can openers. "The hurricane was a huge disaster," Dale said. "But there are stories going on here every day of people who have personal catastrophes on the same scale - they lose a home, a family member, and it's just crushing."