Agencies far from goals

Local charities are in dire need of holiday resources

By Erienne Greene / Journal Staff Writer

Lisa Carper, Capt. Melvin Welch, Pam Cook and Kathy Boylan are all seeking donations for their charities this holiday season. (Journal photo by Erienne Greene)

MARTINSBURG - Hundreds of Eastern Panhandle children who would normally be helped by local nonprofit agencies could go without food, clothing and toys this holiday season.

That's what representatives from four charitable organizations fear will happen if their donation levels don't increase quickly for Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties, because poor economic conditions have led to a large reduction in giving and an increase in need.

Local nonprofit groups met Friday morning at a news conference to discuss the problem, and they said the poor economy is making their annual missions of giving to the community nearly impossible to accomplish.

The Eastern Panhandle Christmas Clearinghouse, the local Salvation Army, the Jefferson County Shoe and Coat Fund and The Journal's Warm the Children program are all currently falling behind in meeting their goals this month because of the combination of their drastically lower budgets and residents' increased needs for help.

Kathy Boylan from the Eastern Panhandle Christmas Clearinghouse opened up the morning conference by explaining that her organization is a resource for agencies, churches and other groups that provide food, clothing and toys to those in need. She said that the agency begins taking applications from needy families asking for assistance in mid-November each year, a little over a month prior to Christmas day.

According to Boylan, in years past, Christmas Clearinghouse has had anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 to spend on 200 children.

This year, however, the agency is struggling to provide for nearly 400 children with only $2,000, a task that Boylan thinks is nearly impossible.

"Christmas Clearinghouse is having tremendous difficulty this year meeting the Christmas need," she said.

Along with the 164 families in the area who still need to be "adopted," Boylan added that there is a stack of nearly 100 additional applications that haven't even been reviewed because the group is trying to handle the current overload of families.

"When people fill out an application, they make it with hope," Boylan said as she expressed how many families this year might not receive a Christmas, despite their best efforts to apply for assistance.

The number of children within the 168 families who will not receive services this year is a staggering 408.

Capt. Melvin Welch of the Salvation Army in Martinsburg explained that his agency is struggling this season as well, and he has only been able to provide gifts for 20 children out of a total of 900 who need gifts.

We're so far behind this year and we just don't know what we're going to do at this point," Welch said. "The Salvation Army took a 30 percent cut in its bell-ringing donations this year alone."

The bleak facts shared by representatives only continued when Pam Cook from Warm the Children and Lisa Carper from Jefferson County Board of Education spoke about the current status of their groups, which both provide warm winter clothing for area children.

Carper, who is the coordinator of student support and social services for the board, said the Shoe and Coat Fund is down 80 percent this year in its annual funds.

"Deciding who to help and having to say the word 'no' is very difficult," said Carper, referring to the number of families who have had to be turned away because of the lack of resources available.

Cook's comments were in stride with the other three representatives, relaying the information that her organization too is down in funding for this month.

"We've met about half of our goal," she said.

The budget for Warm the Children has decreased nearly 50 percent since last year, dropping to $30,000.

The news conference began with the discussion of the organizations' mutual need for donations but concluded on a more positive note, one that expressed just how little community members need to contribute in order to make a significant difference for one more family.

"If each individual could just give $1 to one of these groups, Santa could come to all of these children," Boylan said.

More information is available by calling Kathy Boylan at (304) 267-0118, Lisa Carper at (304) 728-9235, Melvin Welch at (304) 267-4612 or Pam Cook at (304) 263-8931.

Financial donations can also be made to the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle at 222 W. King St., Martinsburg WV 25401

- Staff writer Erienne Greene can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 183, or egreene@journal-news.net