Town’s Nonprofits Challenged In Bid To Help Others In Need

MASHPEE- Local nonprofit organizations and charitable initiatives are bracing for what could be a lean holiday season, thanks to a still-sluggish economy.
“It’s always a struggle to raise money, and it’s a struggle now because of the economy,” said Tara Cronin, marketing director for the ALS Family Charitable Foundation, “so you’ve got to be creative.”
So far, many Mashpee nonprofits are holding steady in the early days of the holiday season, or at least experiencing little decline in financial support.
Ms. Cronin said donations to the foundation, which was co-founded by Mary Ann Singersen of Mashpee, are down slightly this year, “but not a lot.” The foundation’s annual cornerstone fundraiser, the Cliff Walk in Bourne, took in $150,000, about $2,000 less than the previous year.
“We’re doing very well…we’re steady, if not better than last year,” Holly Dayton, director of operations for the Cape Cod Children’s Museum, said. Autumn fundraisers such as the annual “Fancy Nancy Tea” brought in more money than last year’s event, she reported.
“I think it comes down to parents always spend money on their kids,” she said.
The museum derives its income from membership fees, corporate sponsorships, museum rentals for private events such as birthday parties, and grants, as well as outside donations.
Another youth-oriented organization, the Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod relies more on donations and revenue from its major fundraisers to support its budget. Ruth W. Provost, the club’s director, said earlier this month the board of directors planned to be a bit more aggressive in its winter appeal to regular donors to compensate for a recent loss of state aid, the result of cuts to the state budget.
However, Ms. Provost said those donors “may have less or no money to give us this year” because of the economy.
The same forces that drive down donations also drive up need. Organizers of this year’s annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner, sponsored by the Mashpee Chamber of Commerce, expect to surpass last year’s attendance of 60 people. The chamber also provided dinners to 64 homebound residents.
Fortunately, according to Chamber Executive Director Ted Nadolny, “things are going very well…donations have actually increased over past years.”
“I would say it’s because our area business people, our members, are showing great generosity,” Mr. Nadolny said. “Our members anticipated greater need this year.”
The chamber food pantry, located at its visitors center on Route 130, also benefited from the efforts of the Quashnet School K-Kids, a student-run community service club sponsored by the Mashpee Kiwanis Club. The K-Kids held a food drive throughout October and into Election Day, and the “Election Collection” alone brought in about 1,000 items.
“We have been fortunate so far. Kids helping kids has appeal and I guess people generally support their efforts,” Jane Emery, the club’s teacher advisor said. “I don’t know how any holiday fundraising efforts will fare but we will try nonetheless. Our young members would vote to fund every request, that’s just their generous nature.”
Mr. Nadolny said that if all goes as expected, the chamber will not only be able to feed everyone who attends the community dinner, but will have a surplus of food to pass along to its food pantry, which has thus far met with very high demand; its initial stock of food was depleted on its opening day in September.
According to Richard J. Reilly, a volunteer at the food pantry at the Parish of Christ the King, “last year we saw 20 to 25 clients a week” during the holidays, “and we’ve up to 70 this year…and we haven’t even got to Thanksgiving.”
The pantry receives 40 percent of its stock from the Greater Boston Food Bank, the rest from local providers. Local food donations are still strong, Mr. Reilly reported, thanks to “fabulous” support from Roche Bros. and Super Stop & Shop, but cash donations are down. Super Stop & Shop’s annual donation declined from $8,000 in 2006 to $3,500 last year, “and I think we’ll see less this year.”
Mr. Reilly expected the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which handles donations for the food pantry, to spend $60,000 for stock this year, more than twice what it spent in 2007.
“We’re seeing a big jump in expenses,” pantry coordinator Donald G. Chabot said, and that jump also applies to the society’s needy fund, which provides financial assistance to families having trouble paying their bills.
Mr. Chabot said the church’s “very generous parishioners” are encouraged to donate food for the pantry, and to shop at the church’s thrift shop in Cotuit.
Mr. Chabot said the society is stepping up its efforts to help Mashpee’s needy families by providing them with generous baskets of food, and is maintaining its regular contributions to the NOAH homeless shelter in Hyannis. The society cooks two dinners a month, serving about 60 people at a time, and provides breakfasts for shelter occupants two weekends per month.
However, other organizations have been forced to scale back their work to make their money stretch as far as possible. The Boys & Girls Club has indefinitely frozen accepting new memberships for younger children, and CLAWS (Cats Lost And Wanting Shelter), a cat adoption agency that originated in Mashpee, has put a moratorium on accepting new cats.
“I’ve actually stopped taking cats in,” CLAWS founder June M. Daley said. “I have to keep the numbers manageable in this economy. The problem is, people are calling me trying to place their cats” as they can no longer afford to keep them or have lost their homes.
Ms. Daley said the adoption fees are increasingly insufficient to cover her greatest costs, food and cat litter, which continue to rise in price. “I still have money, I haven’t run out yet, but looking at the road ahead, as costs keep going up, I don’t know,” she said.
“Unless you ask for it, people don’t send in money,” Ms. Daley said, but sometimes even asking for it does not yield strong results.
At the Audible Local Ledger, which also lost state funding in the budget cuts, there has been little response to a recent request for donations. To counter this, Sherry H. Bergeron, executive director of the ALL, is planning some alternative fundraising approaches. Over two weekends in November and December, Ms. Bergeron will be at South Cape Village selling brass Cape Cod Christmas ornaments, provided by the Jewel Box.
As part of the annual Mashpee Christmas Parade, the ALL will sell hot coffee and hold an Artisans Fair featuring the work of 45 local artists and crafters, again at South Cape Village.
The ALS Foundation tried something new this year with last week’s interactive murder mystery dinner theater event. Ms. Cronin said the show “did really well,” selling 150 tickets out of an available 250 after a slow start. “We did better than we expected.”
To boost revenue during the holidays, the foundation sells its ALS awareness bracelets, and plans to print calendars commemorating this year’s Cliff Walk.
Ms. Bergeron noted that, despite thin financial support, her volunteer base is extremely strong as people are better able to give of their time when they can’t give money. The ALL is supported by 80 volunteers “and we have twice as many new volunteers as last year,” she said.