Local charities had a merrier Christmas than expected

Monday, Feb. 4, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

Las Vegas charities feared that the generosity locals showed to New York and Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would hurt the annual Christmas giving, which accounts for almost a third of their annual budgets.

In addition, they realized, many Las Vegas hotel employees would be out of work in the Yuletide season, turning a number of regular donors into first-time charity recipients.

But Las Vegas givers came through. Final tallies completed last week show that the major local charities met or just barely missed their goals, which were just to match last year's totals.

That was good news for the charities, which may find the coming year even more daunting.

The United Way, a major fund-raising agency, warned last month that most programs -- those not providing the basic needs of food, shelter and utility assistance -- could expect funding cuts of up to 30 percent this year.

In addition, January giving is already down.

The holiday giving, however, ensures the charities will be able to sufficiently fund many of this year's programs, though they won't be able to replenish reserves drained by Sept. 11 and the aftermath, officials said.

"We were surprised at the number of new givers and we are satisfied with the results," said Allan Johnson, director of development for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. "For November and December we wound up about 5 to 7 percent above last year."

One of the most successful ventures was Catholic Charities' direct-mail appeal that brought in about $120,000 -- $10,000 more than the 2000 total.

Things were much the same at the Clark County chapter of the American Red Cross, where the November-December appeal brought in $65,000, about the same as last year.

"This really reflects the generosity of Southern Nevadans because locally we turned over more than $4 million raised to our world headquarters" for Sept. 11 relief, local Red Cross spokeswoman Trish Williamson said. "Yet people still gave to help locals at Christmas time."

The Salvation Army Clark County Command wound up about 3 percent behind last year in Christmas appeal donations. While the mail appeal was off 5 percent from the previous year, the smaller bell-ringer kettle drive brought in $185,000 -- $11,000 more than in 2000.

"Naturally we would have liked to have beaten last year's overall total, especially with so many more people in need, but given the economic circumstances we wound up doing pretty well," spokesman Charles Desiderio said.

Before Sept. 11, the Salvation Army family services office was helping 65 to 75 people a day. That number climbed to 150 to 175 after the casino layoffs and remained at that level through Christmas, causing the Salvation Army to use funds it otherwise would have spent on Christmas gifts and dinners to meet basic needs.

The Salvation Army reduced the number of children receiving toys from 10,000 in 2000 to 9,000 this past year, Desiderio said. Food boxes and food certificates were down 200 from the 3,000 year before. The Salvation Army served 1,350 Thanksgiving and Christmas meals to the poor -- down by 350 from the previous year.

And the new year isn't looking hopeful.

Catholic Charities experienced a much worse January falloff than usual, with donations dipping nearly 50 percent from January 2000 to about $10,000. Plans are to aggressively seek more money this spring.

"We will be doing our first-ever Easter (mail) appeal," Johnson said, noting that another big fund-raiser will be the third annual Spring Classic Golf Tournament at the Siena Golf Club on May 13.

The Red Cross also is turning to golf to bring in more money, with its first-ever Farewell to the Fairway event at the Desert Inn Golf Club on March 4. The Salvation Army plans to be more aggressive with its Easter Appeal, Desiderio said.

The long-lasting gains from this past Christmas season may be more than the money collected.

"More than ever, local organizations worked together to help people and avoid duplicating services," Johnson said. "We had more group meetings and as a result worked much better together."com