PORT ANGELES — The Salvation Army is looking for some angels this year.
Gifts and cash donations are needed for the couple of hundred children signed up for the Angel Tree Project — in which donors buy items for children off of a wish list — and also for the 2,000 children to whom the organization hopes to distribute other Christmas gifts and the 750 families that have signed up for holiday groceries, said the Rev. Darvin Jordan, the Port Angeles leader of the organization.
“We probably have less than 250 of the children’s toys we need, and we expect about 2,000 children, so we are pretty far behind,” Jordan said of the two gift programs.
It has been a record year of assisting others for the Salvation Army, which is now serving lunch to anywhere from 75 to 175 people each day.
Jordan said the need on the North Olympic Peninsula has escalated.
“One thing that is tragic that I have noticed is many, many people who donated toys or groceries last year for this very program are now signed up because they need help,” Jordan said.
“That is something of a shocker for us.”
$30,000 short
Donations also are down, and the Port Angeles unit of the Salvation Army is about $30,000 short of its budgeted expenses so far the year.
“So far we are only in debt to our own budget, but I don’t know what we’ll do if we can’t make it up,” Jordan said.
The organization is in the midst of one of its major fundraisers of the year — the Kettle Program.
In the Kettle Program, people ring bells at local establishments to attract donations.
“We do pay a little bit to some people doing that for us,” Jordan said.
“One of our missions is to employ people who need that.
“So we are proud to do that, even though it means our net proceeds are not as much as is initially brought in.”
Same as last year
So far the Kettle Program has brought in about the same amount as last year, and Jordan is hoping last-minute giving will be up by the year’s end.
For now, Jordan said he is focusing on the Christmas programs, which include giving meals to the 750 families along with gifts for the children.
“Just for the grocery distribution we need $17,000 just for the food,” Jordan said.
The organization will also for the first time host a Christmas Day lunch, he said, and volunteers are especially needed for food-preparation and cleanup work, he said.
This year for Thanksgiving the organization fed about 200 people — about the same as 2008’s record-setting number.
Jordan said he expects the need to continue to grow for a while but is focusing on small victories.
“There is one kid that has been living in a tent for quite some time now,” Jordan said.
“We finally got him moved into some appropriate housing.
“That is a victory for us.”
For more information or to donate, phone the Port Angeles Salvation Army at 360-452-7679.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.