Maritime charities hope donations meet demand as more Canadians need help to get by

First at Five: Charity Check-In Those who run charities hope the high cost of living won’t affect how much Canadians donate this year.

This is the fifth year that Nicole Martelle has collected new blankets to give Nova Scotia seniors living in long-term care.

Last year, she collected 600.

“It's a way for seniors to know that they're thought of,” says Martelle. “It’s about community as well.”

This year, Martelle has expanded her efforts.

“Previous years have just been Northwood, [but] as it’s grown it’s expanded to Oakwood Terrace, St. Vincent’s Nursing Home,” she says. “This year, we added Veterans Memorial Hospital and Fisherman’s Memorial Hospital, as well as White Hills Long Term Care Center.”

But 2 weeks into her campaign, she’s worried she won't get as many donations as she’s hoping for.

“The cost of living is going up, people are struggling to afford rent and food let alone donating a blanket,” says Martelle. “So I totally understand that, it's definitely been a struggle this year.”

It’s a common concern for big and small charities alike -- that inflation will eat away at household budgets, leaving little behind for charitable donations.

“Rising cost in living is likely a very significant factor when it comes to all of that,” says Nicole Danesi of the online fundraising platform, CanadaHelps.

A recent Ipsos survey conducted for the organization suggests more Canadians think they will need help to meet basic needs such as food and shelter in the next 6 months.

“Ipsos found that 2 in 10 Canadians are planning to access charitable services to meet essential needs,” says Danesi. “That is up from about 14 per cent in January 2022.”

The same survey also found some Canadians may be scaling back on donations at the same time, with only 13 per cent planning to give more.

A similar Angus Reid survey conducted for CTV News of more than 1,000 people found 61 per cent of Atlantic Canadians intend to donate the same amount this year compared to 2021.

Six-point-one per cent intend to donate more, half the national average.

Twenty-two per cent of Atlantic Canadians said they plan to donate less than last year, compared to 16 per cent nationally.

As Maritime charities enter the crucial holiday season, they hope donations will keep pace with demand.

“As the economy goes, so do we,” says Ron Dunn of Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.

Tuesday, the non-profit’s charity thrift store, Mission Mart, marked four years since opening its doors. Money from store sales helps Souls Harbour provide 400 hot meals a day to Nova Scotians throughout the province, with plans to expand into Cape Breton.

“The beauty is that we have folks that send us $4.85, which pays for one meal,” says Dunn. “That's amazing, and if everybody did what they could, we could help more people.”

The head of Greener Village Food Bank in Fredericton says many of the families it serves are reporting a negative income after paying for expenses, food not included.

“For people who are struggling, times are very, very tough,” says Alex Boyd.

Boyd says higher food costs mean more fundraising dollars needed to stock food bank shelves.

“The next six weeks are going to be critical to whether this year is a deficit year where we go behind and we're not able to do some things that we want to do in the next year, or if things come out right,” says Boyd.

“It really means that they're going to have to stretch their dollars even further when it comes to making sure that donors and the work that they're doing are making a really big impact,” says Danesi.

She says there are other ways to give back to charities, whether it’s through volunteering, or giving donations as holiday gifts. CanadaHelps has created a “12 Ways to Give” campaign to encourage Canadians to do what they can.

In the meantime, Martelle hopes donations for her blanket drive for seniors picks up soon, to meet her goal of distributing 500 blankets before Christmas.