As economy worsens local charities feel the pinch

Donors continue to give, but less than in previous years

Issue of August 29, 2008

2008 saw the government bailout of Bear Sterns, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, an increase in unemployment and, according to many economists, a full-fledged recession. It’s no surprise that local Jewish charities have been hit hard as well.

“People are being more carefully selective about where they’re sending their tzedakah,” Richard Altabe, Executive Vice President of Tova, a mentoring program in the Five Towns, said.

The Jewish Star spoke to more than half a dozen charities active in the Five Towns, Long Beach, and Far Rockaway area, and found that in almost all cases support is down so far this year. While exact numbers aren’t available yet, the consensus is that a very long winter lies ahead for local charities.

“Everybody is feeling it and everybody is going to feel it. We’re getting less funds in to local charities and many more requests,” said Dr. Deborah Dienstag, a local pediatrician who is chairman of both Tova and the Leon Lief Foundation. “People don’t realize that there are a lot of neighbors that need their help.”

Shimmie Ehrenreich, Executive Director of Cahal, a Jewish special education program based in Cedarhurst, said that basic donation levels are down, though the number of donors has remained consistent.

“A person who gave $100 last year gave $50 this year. One who gave $500 last year is only giving $180 this year. The number of donors hasn’t decreased, but they’re giving less than two or three years ago,” he said.

Aside from a general decrease in donations, many charities are suffering from concurrent budget woes.

Tova withstood a loss of $30,000 when a New York City Council anti-drug program was cut amidst a $1 billion cut to New York City’s budget. At the same time rising gas and commodity prices are pushing up basic costs.

Jeanette Lamm, director of Tomchei Shabbos in the Five Towns, an organization that provides food for families in need, said that they are dealing with rising food prices in addition to an increase in the number of people requiring service. Tomchei Shabbos currently provides for 175 families, Lamm estimates.

“And we’ll be getting more,” she said.

Other charities have taken a different route to fundraising. Tova and Kulanu have both been aggressively applying for government and federal grants. This coming September, a new after-school program at Kulanu will be funded by the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disability (OMRDD).

While the economy is clearly the cause of their budget deficits, many of the charity officials The Jewish Star spoke with mentioned the influx of international and national charities that draw a large degree of their funding from this area but don’t base their activities here. Giving to those charities is an idealistic stance, many said, but not one to take when the local charities are suffering.

“We have to prioritize our tzedakah,” Altabe said, “We shouldn’t be sending money to yeshivas around the world when our yeshivas are running a deficit.”