BALTIMORE — Charities across Baltimore are making urgent pleas for donations this Giving Tuesday as they report seeing increased demand for their services.
Several local organizations say more people are turning to them for help following Medicaid cuts and SNAP uncertainty last month. Despite the growing need, many are also experiencing an uptick in community generosity.
"A lot of people have really stepped up both with donations, in-kind donations, volunteering," said Dave Kinkopf, executive director of Catholic Charities. "We had a wonderful event just recently when we heard from some of our Head Start families. They were struggling to keep food on the table. We got all of a sudden just unsolicited donations. We went out and bought a lot of food."
Catholic Charities provides basic food needs, shelter, job training and education assistance to community members in need.
At the Franciscan Center, hundreds of people rely on daily lunch service, including Vernon Hudson, who finds the location offers more than just a meal.
"The food will be nice, always hot and warm it's definitely a safe place, a beautiful place to come," Hudson said.
Hudson said more people have joined him over the last few months given SNAP uncertainty.
"It's taken the pressure off me, alleviated, as far as the market things, you know, the month to month bills. So it's really has alleviated a lot of things," Hudson said.
Jeffrey Griffin, executive director of the Franciscan Center, said meeting the growing demand has been challenging.
"It's been overwhelming at times and the need for people to feel like they have enough food, they have enough resources at their house, that they have the clothes that they need," Griffin said.
The Boys and Girls Club of Baltimore is expanding and relies on donations to provide mentoring and programming for children in the area.
"One of the things I love when folks give to the Boys and Girls Clubs, we return nearly $10 in value to our kids and to our communities," said Jeff Breslin, president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Baltimore. "When someone gives us a donation, it supports our kids every single day. It supports more than 2,000 kids to have a safe place to be every day after school throughout the summer."
The Baltimore Children and Youth Fund provides grant money to local nonprofits through public funds but also needs community support.
"Your donation today will support the people that are actually on the ground doing the work, and we have incredible organizations under our umbrella," said Adriana Vargas of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund. "So Giving Tuesday is super, super important and donations that we get throughout the year."
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