Maritime charities feel the pressure as need is up and donations are down this holiday season

With just two weeks until Christmas, the shelves at Jim’s Bike Shop are sparse.

During the holidays, the shop is home to What Kids Need Moncton Inc. Founder Amanda Pooley says things have been slow this year.

“The number of things that have been ordered from our Amazon wish list is down, the number of kids who were sponsored is down, the number of people registering is not down unfortunately,” said Pooley.

When she first started the initiative 14 years ago Pooley helped 26 kids. Last year that number climbed to 1,669 and this year she expects to hit 2,000.

“So far, we’ve already delivered to 290 families and we have 595 families on our list, with over 1,500 kids so far. So, everybody is struggling this year so it’s really hard to donate somewhere when you are struggling yourself,” she said.

Despite the increased need, Pooley says she doesn’t plan on slowing down or limiting how many families can ask for help.

Toys and books are pictured on a shelf at What Kids Need Moncton, a nonprofit organization that helps families in need.

At What Kids Need Moncton, kids are given a gift, stocking stuffer, a book and hat and mitts. Plus, kids under 10 get a stuffed animal.

“We always have a huge level of support from the community and we still do have many places that have reached out and have stepped up to help us get as far as we have,” said Pooley.

The organization is still looking for baby items, arts and craft kits, LEGO and anything off their Amazon wish list. Items can still be purchased online, if they’ll arrive before Christmas. People can also use the online wish list for inspiration and drop toys off in-person at Jim’s Bike Shop.

However, with the cost of gas, rent, groceries and more on the rise, Maritimers are having to make do with less, which is leaving charitable organizations to face more obstacles at a time of year when families are leaning on them.

“As of [Wednesday] morning we have serviced 915 children in three-and-a-half days, which kind of makes us think ‘Oh my gosh, how are we going to manage up until the 18th?’ So we cut off additional appointments as of Monday,” said Caroline Donelle, the executive director of Moncton Headstart.

Toy Land

Headstart had 750 appointments available for Toy Land this year. Donelle says they ended up capping them at 550 because they were worried their donations would run out before their appointments did.

“It’s been markedly reduced from even last year. Toys are still coming in, but it’s slim. We’re not seeing the donation and the supply matching the need,” she said.

“The only reason Toy Land exists is because of the generosity of the community. We run on donations exclusively. People drop off new, unwrapped gifts. We sort them all out by age and then we set up this room repeatedly throughout the process.”

To put it into perspective, Donelle says there are five families that come through Toy Land every 20 minutes, which means staff are constantly restocking the room.

While they need all items, Donelle says they are extremely short on gifts geared towards teenagers and are completely out of gift cards already.

“I think people are really sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place that there’s not a lot of give room,” said Donelle.

“I think that’s kind of happening and traditionally the charitable section has always picked up the slack and now we’re doing that today, same thing, but with a lot more emphasis on need.”

Last year Headstart was able to serve around 1,500 children and this year they’ve almost reached that same number but aren’t even half way through the campaign.

New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at Headstart during business hours and they also accept donations online or over the phone.

Gift Mart

At Birchmount School, students hope to spread some Christmas magic to their parents and guardians this year.

Their annual Gift Mart allows kids to shop from gently used items that have been donated with just a two-dollar donation.

Officials say they need 1,200 gifts by Friday and they are very low on supplies this year.

The school has a list of item suggestions that are tailored to adults including home décor, mugs, games, tools, jewelry and new hats, mitts, scarves and socks.

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