SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — People are giving less to charitable donations right now, but organizations like the Ozarks Food Harvest, Crosslines and Convoy of Hope see a spike during Christmas time.
But they need help right now during the coronavirus pandemic.
The non-profits all say donating money is better than donating items.
They can stretch out the dollar and target specifically what they need to buy.
“I believe in the cause,” said Nancy Myers, a volunteer at Crosslines of Springfield, “it’s very rewarding. When you talk to a young mother who just had a baby and there’s no place for her to turn, and she’s crying, she’s so grateful for the help, it warms your heart.”
Myers, along with volunteers at Convoy of Hope and Ozarks Food Harvest said they love helping people in need.
“We actually get to feed people, it’s a really good feeling,” said Chelsea Corntassel, a temporary worker at Ozarks Food Harvest.
“It’s really rewarding,” said Richard Wilson, a volunteer at Convoy of Hope, “we’re there to try to bless others, but in doing so, we really get the blessing by being able to help people that are in need in those difficult situations.”
“It’s so wonderful to feel like you know that they’re not going to go hungry,” Myers said.
“Especially now with this covid-19 response, is the finances that it takes,” said Jeff Nene, national spokesperson of Convoy of hope, “we have a plan to distribute ten million meals to people all across the country, but even at a dollar a meal, that’s 10 million dollars,”
“Children are going to be out of school this summer,” said Tom Faulkner, director of Crosslines Community Resource Center, “they’re going to need meals. We’ve got more homeless, they’re going to be walking around the community, during the summer months, so we need to get food out to those folks.”
Faulkner said another reason money donations are so important, they can stretch out the dollar.
They can take five and a half dollars, and feed twelve people.
“They are those meals, skillet dinners, macaroni and cheese, tuna, things along those lines,” Faulkner said.
“We can do so much more with your dollar,” said Bart Brown, CEO and president of Ozarks Food Harvest, “every dollar can provide four meals or about $10 worth of groceries.”
“People want to donate, but if they bring a case of water to Convoy, they may have spent 5 dollars for that case of water, while everything we have to do to get that water in the field, it ends up costing six or seven dollars,” explained Nene.
And if you donate money, the organizations can be able to buy items they need the most.
“If we are short on say macaroni and cheese or peanut butter, we can go out and purchase those items,” Faulkner said.
“Food is still a little bit short at the grocery store, and we’re still trying to keep people in as much as possible, not create unnecessary trips, so that makes it doubly efficient to just do a monetary donation right now,” Brown said, “if you need help, this is not the time to hesitate, we’re all in this together.”
If you want to make a monetary donation, all three organizations said the easiest way is to do that on their websites.
Ozarks Food Harvest: www.ozarksfoodharvest.org
Convoy of Hope: www.convoyofhope.org
Crosslines: www.crosslines.org
