As Weather Warms, Donations to Needy Families Fall

At the Salvation Army’s Plymouth post, volunteers busily unload two palettes of food and divide their contents into sacks for some of the area’s most economically disadvantaged families.

Capt. Dan Hull, who leads the post, said it’s a common site at the Plymouth location, but one that becomes less common as spring gives way to the summer.

“People begin to think about other things – vacations and summer activities,” he said. “We generally expect a fall-off in donations at this time of the year. But this is the time of year people often need more help.”

In fact, donations are expected to fall by 80 percent as summer approaches, said Tammy Moyer, who runs the Salvation Army’s food pantry.

The drop comes at a precarious time; more children at home cannot count on federally-subsidized free- and reduced-lunch programs.

“(The reduction in donations) is something we’re used to — but we’re going to meet the needs of families,” Moyer said. “Families that receive food assistance find out that the assistance doesn’t go as far. That’s even if they receive enough to begin with – I know one man that only gets $20 per month.”

To fill the gap, the Army will have to use funds donated during the Red Kettle drive last winter to buy food to make ends meet until donations increase, Hull said.

Needs intensify in the summer

Most charitable fundraising begins in the fall, which is a more natural time for people to give to groups that help the less fortunate, Hull said.

“The holidays are coming, and people seem to have giving on their minds,” he said.

Marie Morrow, the director of the Plymouth United Way, said their major fundraising campaigns will begin in the fall.

“We’re working on our fall campaign right now,” she said. “In the meantime, we’ll help [other charitable groups] as much as we can.” In January, the Salvation Army received a $20,000 grant from the Plymouth United Way to be used for utility and rental assistance.

But other factors are affecting groups that are helping vulnerable citizens, the most serious of which is the economy. At the Salvation Army, Hull said he expects the number of families seeking food or cash assistance for utility and rent in 2011 to increase threefold from 2007.

“Some of the people that need help used to donate to us,” Hull said.

In 2007, about 120 families in Plymouth and Plymouth Township sought assistance with basic needs. Hull did not have numbers for 2010 immediately available and 2011 data will not be compiled until the end of the year.

Plymouth and Plymouth Township make up one of Wayne County’s most affluent communities, which makes escalating requests for assistance surprising -- at least on the surface.

The township’s unemployment rate for April 2011 was 3.2 percent, according to the Michigan Department of Labor, Energy and Economic Growth’s Labor Market Information Study. The City of Plymouth is not included in this study. The township’s unemployment rate is far below Michigan's seasonally-unadjusted average of 10.2 percent, and Wayne County’s average of 12 percent, and is considered more or less a pre-recessionary rate.

The numbers don’t tell the story

It’s difficult to get a complete picture of what is happening economically in Plymouth because many people affected by the downturn are not included in official data.

People who have been forced to accept part-time work, people who are no longer receiving unemployment compensation but are not working, and those who are helping family members though a fiscal crisis are not counted, but are a part of the current situation in Michigan, said Kyle Caldwell, the president of the Michigan Non-Profit Association.

“The number of people seeking assistance has been the biggest challenge faced by nonprofits,” he said. “Nonprofits are doing everything they possibly can to help individuals who need it.”

Caldwell also said the fact that residents will not be able to deduct charitable contributions on their state taxes in 2012 is likely to be a disincentive for people to donate to nonprofits going forward.

Back at the Salvation Army’s Plymouth Post, there is a silver lining. The U.S. Postal Service’s food drive in May yielded quite a bit of food just when the shelves were beginning to go bare, Hull said. Also, the Plymouth Kiwanis donated boxes filled with baby necessities to help families with newborns and infants, Hull said.

In the meantime, Hull said he and his staff will work to find ways to help families.

“We’re going to do what we always do,” he said. “We’re going to pray that people remember us and work as hard as we can to help people in our community that need it.”