The Quincy branch of the Salvation Army has been forced to lay off two out of three of their full-time employees, and lost volunteers, due to COVID-19.
QUINCY — The Salvation Army is preparing for a holiday season without many of their well-known red kettles and ringing bells typically situated in malls and outside grocery stores. Pandemic-related thrift store shut downs and a predicted cut in fundraising this winter has already lead to permanent store closures and layoffs, including two of three full-time employees at the charity's Quincy branch.
The Salvation Army predicts it will make only half of what it usually does from the kettles as stores close and malls see less shoppers this holiday season. So the organization has launched a virtual campaign called "Rescue Christmas" to try and salvage its largest U.S. fundraiser.
"We haven't heard back from a lot of our normal Christmas partners with the red kettle stores and stuff," said Amber Maynor, who runs the Quincy branch with her husband, Kyle. "We're hoping to have the red kettles out at the stores come November and December, but unfortunately there a lot of stores that are closing with everything that's happened, and then there's also a lot less foot traffic in the malls and stuff. A lot of people just shop online now."
Quincy's Salvation Army location has seen a significant increase in new clientele during the pandemic due to people losing their jobs and more people requiring assistance, Maynor said. The local branch provides emergency disaster services, helps feed families in need and provides gifts, meals and coats for struggling families at the holidays.
Because of layoffs, the Quincy location has only one full time employee — a social worker — and has seen fewer volunteers to assist with services such as food delivery. As the Christmas holiday nears, Maynor said the branch will need more volunteers to deliver food.
Last year's holiday season brought 400 families in need to the Quincy location, Maynor said, and a total of 400,000 individuals were served in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Division of Salvation Army raised just under $3 million dollars with the red kettle campaign in 2019, but this year the store closures and lack of mall foot traffic are causing concern that the local branches will be unable to meet the demand.
Want news like this sent straight to your inbox? Head over to PatriotLedger.com to sign up for alerts and make sure you never miss a thing. You pick the news you want, we deliver.During the holiday season, the Salvation Army provides families with meals including pies, bread and meats so that they can have a Christmas dinner and enough for leftovers. They also provided toys, books and clothes to families with kids.
"We do partner with local businesses who are very generous in getting those donations to us," Maynor said. "So that's another thing we're nervous about with a lot of people working from home now. We don't know if people will want to give and a lot of times in those business settings, during the holidays it boosts morale to kind of partner together and purchase toys for children, and things like that. We're not on top of people's minds. So we're a little nervous about whether or not we'll have enough resources to make sure that we have toys for each of our children who will be applying for assistance."
The Quincy branch is expecting to see a 30 to 50 percent increase in need from families, Maynor said.
Additionally, the Salvation Army thrift stores, which fund drug and alcohol rehabilitation services, have seen a high demand for affordable clothes, furniture, and other home goods due to COVID-19. Locally, the thrift stores can be found in Hanover, Brockton, Bridgewater, and Taunton.
The thrift stores have seen an influx in donations as people cleaned out their homes during quarantine, and there were lines outside the door the day they opened back up on June 9, said Mark Ferreira, administrator of the Brockton Adult Rehabilitation Center.
While the donations have been plenty, Ferreira said, it takes effort to maintain cleaning protocols in the stores to makes sure that staff and customers are protected.
Donations also have to be "quarantined" for 24 hours before they can be processed and sorted, which adds to the workload.
Enjoyed this article? Head over to PatriotLedger.com to sign up for a digital or print subscription for as low as $10 per month. We appreciate your support. The Link LonkSeptember 24, 2020 at 08:48PM
https://ift.tt/2HtUwNw
Local Salvation Army branches brace for holiday season - The Patriot Ledger
https://ift.tt/2QoXNjh
Holiday
No comments:
Post a Comment