Many charities struggling with donations amid Canada Post strike

During the season of giving, charitable organizations are struggling amid the Canada Post strike.

Nonprofits like Souls Harbour Rescue Mission says the majority of their donations come through direct mail.

“I think for a lot of people the impact of the mail strike means they don’t get their Christmas parcel mailed out or their Christmas cards received. But for Souls Harbour, the impact is much, much larger. Without the mail we are short $1 million on our budget,” says Micheel Porter, Souls Harbour Rescue Mission CEO. “One of the things that the mail strike will do is that we normally get many, many cheques in the mail. And the majority of our donors are elderly, and they don’t give online. They've never done that before so just spreading the word about dropping a cheque off at mission mart or here, otherwise the impact can be quite great for Soul’s Harbour.”

Other charities like Brigadoon Village in Nova Scotia are facing the same struggles. Elizabeth Smith, Brigadoon manager of philanthropy, says they rely heavily on the mail donations.

“It’s tens of thousands of dollars that we see come through the direct mail program alone. But then there's gifts that people send in through the mail so there are a lot of cheques that do come in around the holidays,” says Smith.

Smith says they count on donations from the community to run their services and this time of year is when many of their donors give.

Many nonprofits haven't even been able to send out their request letters to their donors this season. The Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank in Halifax is relying on their volunteers to deliver them by hand.

“We have slowed down in terms of getting some letters out, even getting thank you letters out. It has been very hard for us this time of year. We want our donors to know that it's not really our fault per say, we are trying our very best to get these letters out but unfortunately this is the situation we are in right now,” says Romaine Rhoden, Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank director of donor relations and communications.

Those on the picket lines say they don’t want to see charities struggling.

“A lot of people rely on charities and that's an unidentified consequence and that's once again due to the corporation refusing to negotiate in good faith. If they were to negotiate in good faith, we would be out there delivering mail which is what we want to do,” says Dwayne Corner, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) president.

“It is heartbreaking hearing the stories of charities that are struggling and it puts a spotlight on how much fundraising is still done through the mail. Unfortunately, CUPW hasn't taken a national strike in decades because of the impact it has on Canadians, charities being a big one,” says Jon Hamilton, Canada Post strategic communications vice president.

Negotiations are currently at a stand still and no end is in sight for the postal strike.

Charitable organizations are asking people to give online or drop off donations to their physical locations.