Holidays and inflation hit community care centers harder than ever
The Houston Salvation Army say the number of collected toys for this Holiday season is much different from donations received in past years
The current inflation rate is up nearly 8% from last year. Community care centers say they feel the pressure.
Tiffany Salgado is a Salvation Army Core Officer. She reminisces on the difference the Organization’s Angel Tree program made for her Christmases growing up.
"I am a product of the Angel Tree program. My mom had a lot of difficulty during Christmas, being able to afford Christmas presents, and she was familiar with the church. She would be around and volunteer. And, she would sign us up every year," Salgado said.
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Angel Tree bags are stuffed with toys for the holidays (Joy Addison/Fox News)
Salgado says she will never remember the happiness the donated toys made for her and her siblings.
"My siblings and I would look forward to whatever our Angel Tree bag would hold for us, and for us, it made a big difference because without that we wouldn’t have had something to unwrap on Christmas," Salgado said.
Volunteers work to prepare Angel Tree Bags (Joy Addison/Fox News / Fox News)
This year, Houston area Major Rob Webb says the Angel Tree program is seeing more children in need, but fewer donations.
"In overall giving through all channels, we’re running about 22% behind where we were last year at this time," Webb said. "The increase in the cost of everything, from gasoline to food to housing costs have escalated significantly this year. Everybody is paying more for everything."
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In a survey of 2,000 people, crowdfunding platform Kiva found that many people plan to give less to charity compared with last year, and 44% said a lack of money is the reason.
Angel Tree toys are stored at this Salvation Army Warehouse (Joy Addison/Fox News / Fox News)
Major Webb says the Salvation Army is also seeing more people who have jobs and are usually financially stable use their services.
"We’ve seen an increase of first-time recipients of our programs and services, because all of a sudden, they don’t have enough money to make ends meet," Major Webb said.
Angel Tree bags are prepared for children in need of gifts for the holidays. (Joy Addison/Fox News / Fox News)
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Salgado says because of the increased need, her location and others across the country erased the financial requirements for her location’s Angel Tree recipients. The organization has also expanded ways to donate, including a virtual kettle.
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