Giving rebounds, local charities say

LORRINE THOMPSON THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Monday, March 11, 2002

THURSTON COUNTY -- Call it something of a detour in giving that had local charities worried for a few months, but no longer.

In fact, they might have landed in a better place.

In the days following Sept. 11, Americans donated to disaster victims in mammoth dollar amounts.

But at the same time, local charities found their donations dropping, some fund-raising events canceled.

A charity bowling event for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Thurston County scheduled for the end of September was canceled by the sponsor, and the agency's November auction drew about half as many participants as the year before, said Scott Schoengarth, community relations director.

"We had a pretty lean January and February," Schoengarth said.

Nearly all local charities felt the impact of Sept. 11 for a couple of months, as people poured their charitable dollars into New York.

"I think November was questionable. People were nervous," said Pam Toal, executive director of United Way of Thurston County.

Donations to the Thurston County Food Bank were down heading into the holidays.

"It was concerning, not that we didn't believe in the reasons people were donating (to Sept. 11 funds)," said Jan Putnam, director of the Food Bank.

"There was concern that the community extended their donating power. But if they did, they came up with more," she said.

And that's the good news.

Local charities say community giving rebounded at the end of last year or early this year.

"After things settled down, we saw a very generous community come forward. And we were where we needed to be by the end of the year," Putnam said.

That was a relief, she said, because the food bank has seen a 10 percent increase in requests for food over the same period last year.

Safeplace, a shelter for abused women and their children, saw a small rush in donations at the end of 2001 that almost caught the agency up to its fund-raising goals, said Debbie Rosenbaum, director of development.

"We ended the year fairly well," she said.

The agency received $850,000 in donations, about $20,000 less than their projections.

United Way donations are higher than they were at this point last year, Toal said.

"The state employees really came through," she said.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters is starting to rebound as well, Schoengarth said.

An upcoming fund-raising bowling tournament has been met with enthusiasm.

"I think if you stayed afloat (through the end of the year), you're doing pretty good," he said.

Also, Schoengarth has noticed a change in attitudes toward giving. He visits businesses and agencies to discuss United Way giving.

"People were more attentive, more interested in what you had to say, asked more questions," he said.

"This year, the people at all the businesses I went to seemed really attentive," he said. "Maybe that's a positive side effect (of Sept. 11). I'm hoping so."

Lorrine Thompson covers Thurston County and health for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5431 or lcthomps@olympia.gannett.com.

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