Where have all the donors gone?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/12/2017 (2905 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carla Martinelli-Irvine has a problem.

Unfortunately, when she has a problem, it also means numerous dogs and cats have a problem too.

Martinelli-Irvine, the founder and executive director of the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter, the city’s first no-kill animal shelter to be registered as a charity, wants to continue helping the dogs, cats, puppies and kittens who come through their doors, but she can’t unless people open their hearts and their wallets.

Donations to the shelter have dried up and she doesn’t understand what happened.

“In all my years here, this is the worst year for us yet,” Martinelli-Irvine said.

“I don’t know where the heck everybody is. People aren’t coming into the shelter. The animals are there, but not the donors. I don’t know what is going on.”

It’s been a similar story with some of the local seasonal charitable campaigns. The Salvation Army — both with its local Christmas Kettle campaign and the national one — has seen a dramatic drop in the amount of donations. Earlier this week, the Salvation Army was $150,000 short of its $375,000 local goal while the national campaign was $9 million below its $21-million goal.

Same story at Winnipeg Harvest. The food bank’s donations during December were $370,000, compared to its usual $1 million.

Both the Christmas Cheer Board and Siloam Mission said they won’t know how they did until the end of their respective campaigns.

Martinelli-Irvine said one recent day the mail brought in only one $25 donation.

“The animals here still need help. We need everyone to help right now.”

Most of the hustle and bustle of the festive season is behind us, but there is still another celebration Sunday evening when we ring in the new year. The charitable sector knows this is a make-or-break time of year that will pay for many months of expenses in 2018.

In Winnipeg, there are hundreds of charities and non-profit organizations that are busy doing the good work year round, but also raising money to help keep them going. It’s tough work, but, to a great extent, it has always been tough.

For more than a decade, the Free Press, with the help of the Winnipeg Foundation, has tried to help these organizations — both big and small — through the Philanthropy Page, which shows what they do, helps them raise donations and gives them a well-deserved pat on the back.

Recently, people were reminded of the 12 Days of Christmas. Think of the following list as the 12 charities or charitable areas to which people could consider donating online before the end of the current tax year, or as their first donations for the 2018 tax year.

1 The Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter: it helps 1,000 unwanted animals find homes every year. It even provides shelter, food and veterinary care while they await their forever home. You can donate online by going to petrescueshelter.com or you can send a cheque to 3062 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3K 0Y1.

2 We’ve already mentioned four of the hunger organizations, but here’s how to help them:

Winnipeg Harvest: drop off a donation at 1085 Winnipeg Ave., or by donating online at winnipegharvest.org, clicking on the “donate now” button.

Salvation Army: Christmas Kettle campaign donations can be made at kettles throughout the city (for locations, go to myredshield.ca/kettles). Donate online at FillTheKettle.com or on the Salvation Army’s mobile app, which can be downloaded from Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store.

Christmas Cheer Board: online at christmascheerboard.ca/ways-you-can-help/donate.

Siloam Mission: online at siloam.ca, and click on the “donate now” button.

3 One organization deals with an illness of the body, the other the mind.

The ALS Society of Manitoba helps people who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The disease is incurable, but you can help people living with it.

You can donate online at secure.e2rm.com/registrant/donate.aspx?eventid=154314 or you can send a cheque to ALS Society of Manitoba, 2A – 1717 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H2.

The Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba helps people living with mental health illnesses to receive support, education and advocacy. One in five people will experience some type of mood disorder during their lifetime including depression, anxiety, postpartum depression and bipolar disorder. You can donate by calling 204-942-8715 or emailing charlottes@mooddisordersmanitoba.ca

4 Villa Rosa is a prenatal and postnatal residence in Winnipeg. It provides support to mothers, babies and their families during and after pregnancy.

You can help Villa Rosa by going to villarosa.mb.ca or by sending a donation to 784 Wolseley Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3G 1C6.

5 Palliative Manitoba provides more than end of life care, it helps people with terminal illnesses live a full life with the time they have and it helps support the families left behind. Volunteers will visit people with terminal illnesses while others will offer telephone support to grieving family members.

You can make a tax-deductible donation either online at palliativemanitoba.ca, by calling 204-889-8525 or 1-800-539-0295, or by sending a cheque to Palliative Manitoba, 2109 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3J 0L3

6 There are charitable organizations that help people living with disabilities in the community. Manitoba Riding for the Disabled helps children living with disabilities receive therapy by riding a horse. Continuity Care helps both people living with a disability and their families with support including life planning, tax advice and setting up a will. SCE Lifeworks is an organization which helps adults living with disabilities to work in the community with supports.

You can donate to Manitoba Riding for the Disabled at mrda.cc or by cheque to 145 Pacific Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2Z6. Continuity Care accepts online donations at continuitycare.ca or you can send a cheque to 2 – 120 Maryland St., Winnipeg, MB, R3G 1L1. You can help SCE Lifeworks by sending a cheque to 227-530 Century St., Winnipeg, MB, R3H 0Y4.

7 People living with disabilities are just like the rest of us, they need a place to call home. Some of the organizations that provide group homes for people living with disabilities are Shalom Residences, DASCH, Pulford Community Living Services and L’Arche Winnipeg.

You can go online to Shalom at shalomresidences.com and click on donations, DASCH at dasch.mb.ca, Pulford at pulford.ca and L’Arche at larchewinnipeg.org

8 The Epilepsy and Seizure Association of Manitoba helps people with epilepsy learn about ways of dealing with seizures and medications, as well as education and workplace issues. An estimated 23,000 Manitobans have epilepsy. You can donate online at manitobaepilepsy.org

9 The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba helps people not just in the Jewish community, but also in the greater community. With its endowment fund of more than $113 million, it has distributed almost $55 million in grants since being formed in 1964. Some of the areas it has recently helped are immigrant children with special needs, some of whom have terrorism-related trauma in Israel and transportation for seniors through various organizations. You can send a cheque to C400 – 123 Doncaster St., Winnipeg MB, R3N 2B2 or give online at jewishfoundation.org/how-to-give/give-online

10 The Fort Garry Women’s Resource Centre was founded in 1983 by a group of women who saw that the south portion of the city needed a safe place for women to go to. The centre helps women and children who have been victims of domestic abuse begin their path to healing. But it also helps them receive counselling, take part in services, receive education and support, and get opportunities to volunteer.

You can donate by sending a cheque to the centre at 1150-A Waverley St., Winnipeg, MB, R3T 0P4. Donations can also be sent online at canadahelps.org/en/charities/fort-garry-womens-resource-centre-inc

11 You can help immigrants here and help local organizations help people in other parts of the world. Two of these are the New Immigrant CHAI Centre and Canadians Helping Kids in Vietnam.

CHAI believes that helping to integrate immigrants into Canadian society can be as simple as sipping a cup of Chai tea. It provides a place where immigrants can come for instruction sessions, social gatherings and conversations over — you guessed it — Chai tea.

To help CHAI, you can donate at ccwpg.com/chai and click on the donate button or send a cheque to CHAI Immigrant Centre, P.O. Box 2274 Station Main, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 4A6.

Canadians Helping Kids in Vietnam has built nine schools in Vietnam during its first two decades of existence, helping thousands of children get a chance of an education. But CHKV helps in other ways, including its Biking on a Child’s Future program where, for a $50 donation, they’ll get a new bicycle to a student so the child can get to school.

Mail a cheque to CHKV at 802 Ellice Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R3C 0B9.

12 And finally, if you want to help your local community in myriad ways, you can donate now or give in your will, to the community foundations in your area.

Of course there is the granddaddy of them all — The Winnipeg Foundation here in Winnipeg — but there are also 54 others spread across all corners of the province. There’s also a total of 191 community foundations sprinkled across the country.

For the Winnipeg Foundation, you can write a cheque and send it to The Winnipeg Foundation, 1350-One Lombard Pl., Winnipeg, MB, R3B 0X3, use your Visa or Mastercard online at wpgfdn.org/give, or by calling either 204-944-9474 or toll-free at 1-877-974-3631.

The quickest way to find the other community foundations is to go to Endow Manitoba’s helpful website, which lists them all with links to each and donation buttons.

It’s at endowmanitoba.ca/list-of-manitoba-foundations

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca