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Economic strain affecting charitable donations
With less money in people’s pockets due to inflation, charitable donations are down, while the need for services has only increased.
(FOX 9) - Amid rising inflation, a local non-profit is being forced to cut back how many people they can serve. This at a time when demand is skyrocketing.
Every Meal is a Twin Cities non-profit that provides weekend meals to Minnesota kids in need, but unlike school assistance programs, it receives no government funding.
Founder Rob Williams says the food they buy and distribute has gone up 26 percent in cost since last year, while they’ve seen the number of students requesting assistance increase 34 percent. As a result, the organization had to cancel its winter meal program, which would have served 35,000 bags of food to students over winter break.
"Just for the winter break program… the food cost alone was $250,000," said Williams. "We had to cancel so that we could serve the kids on our regular weekend program."
The non-profit serves kids in about 430 schools across Minnesota, having to turn away 70 schools that they served last year due to funding.
Williams said they anticipated a 17 percent increase in demand this year, but with COVID assistance programs running out and the cost of everyday essentials rising, the program recorded a 34 percent increase in requests for assistance.
He also said they’ve seen donations dip, as regular donors navigate the changing economy.
"We want to say yes to all the kids and unfortunately sometimes we have to say no."