Organization deals with fewer volunteers, donors amid virus
Linda Wallin rarely, if ever, misses a chance to drop something in the red kettle when she sees one.
Wallin, who recently moved to St. John, did it again as she ran in to get some things from Walt’s in Dyer on Thursday afternoon. And that was after tossing a check to the Salvation Army in the mail earlier that morning, she said.
The gesture wouldn’t necessarily be unexpected to Brian Clark, captain for the Army’s Lake County arm, but it’s desperately needed and greatly appreciated in a time where the pandemic has all but decimated many not-for-profit coffers worldwide. Indeed, the offerings at Walt’s — Lake County’s most lucrative kettle spot, Clark said — came in waves on Thursday, with four people dropping in an offering all at once before at least an hour lull in between.
Like many other not-for-profits, the kettle drive has been hit with the perfect storm of pandemic consequences that’ll threaten the charity’s programming for 2021, Clark said. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, people aren’t coming out much, either to shop or to volunteer as bell ringers or anything else.
“I live in Elgin, Illinois, and my wife and I tend to shop at Whole Foods. Well, Whole Foods delivers food right to your doorstep, and we’ve done that during the pandemic, so I understand,” he said.
“We’re not seeing the foot traffic we normally do.”
The restrictions have then led to volunteers being more reluctant to come out around people — all but overwhelming the efforts of Army’s food pantry, which has seen a 500% increase in need as more people become unemployed and federal help is stalled, he said.
“One of our big volunteer groups comes from the AARP, so when the pandemic hit, many of them pulled out,” Clark said. “Meanwhile, we went from having the food pantry open three mornings and two afternoons a week to Monday through Friday all day, and people are there before we open. We’ve even had a few undocumented people show up, scared that we might turn them in. We of course are in the business of helping, so of course we don’t, and we tell them.”
Requests for rent and mortgage help are also way up, with people facing evictions more than ever before, he said.
“Our social worker was out Monday talking to landlords to stop evictions for people,” Clark said. “These are really tough times for a lot of people. One in seven has been affected by COVID-19.”
Still, there have been a few bright spots in an otherwise terrifying time for the organization, even if currently, fundraising is down 70%, Clark said.
Where people might not be giving at the kettle, they’ve more than made up for some 2,200 kids countywide through the Army’s Angel Tree program, he said, promising some “very happy kids” for their Angel Tree event Tuesday. Some other kind soul did the thing the Army looks forward to each year and dropped in a $50 gold coin, worth an estimated $2,000, into the kettle at the Whiting Strack’s, he said.
The Salvation Army also started “virtual kettles,” which Clark hopes will shore up what doesn’t come in through the regular kettles, he said.
“Seventy cents of every dollar goes to direct support,” he said. “Our main Christmas appeal is up, so we hope that’ll be enough to cover the year.”
Samantha Castillo, of Dyer, dropped a little something in the kettle on her way out of Walt’s as well. She and her family always try to donate, focusing on buying gifts for the Angel Tree housed at Lake Central High School more than anything.
Her family hasn’t been affected by the pandemic in any catastrophic way, she said, but she also knows they could be at any moment.
“We were fortunate,” she said.
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