Hard times bring rise in those seeking help from local charities

Citing a poor job market and increasing fuel and food costs, directors of local charities said demand for assistance is stronger than ever. Fortunately, donations also have been on the rise, they said.

Betsy Doughtie, executive director of The Deep Well Project, a private social services agency on Hilton Head Island, said food has been the biggest need in 2008.

From January to June this year, the group made 448 food deliveries, Doughtie said. In the same time period in 2007, Deep Well made 290 deliveries; in 2006, it made 236 deliveries.

"Donations have been able to keep up with need so far," Doughtie said, saying churches are the biggest donors because they ask parishioners to bring canned food on certain Sundays. A recent U.S. Postal Service food drive and routine donations of items that grocery stores can't sell -- collected by a group called Second Helpings -- also have helped significantly, she said.

Doughtie -- noting her astonishment at recently paying $3.69 for a loaf of bread -- said the high cost of food and fuel is contributing to the increased need.

"It's tough for people making $8 an hour," she said. "They're using their food money for gas."

Beyond food assistance, people more frequently are asking Deep Well for help paying for rent and utilities, Doughtie said.

Bluffton Self Help is another local group that has seen a spike in demand for help. Executive director Jenny Haney said the amount of money the group has given out in 2008 through April is up 30 percent compared to the same time period last year.

Bluffton Self Help's financial assistance helps people pay for rent, utilities, minor home repairs and children's programs, among other things.

"We haven't had to turn away anyone that has met our requirements," she said.

Donations to-date this year have more than doubled from last year, Haney said. She declined to specify the amount raised. Twenty percent of the group's money comes from individual donations, while 30 percent comes from United Way. The remaining 50 percent comes from other grants.

"Demand (for assistance) is up, the job market is down, gas is up ... . People are having to make tough decisions about where their money is spent," Haney said.

Haney said Bluffton Self Help, like Deep Well, also is seeing increased demand for food. The group opens its pantry three mornings a week.

"People used to start lining up outside the door 10 minutes before we opened," she said. "The line now starts an hour before we open."

Beyond food and financial assistance, Haney said people also need clothing, having spent the rest of their money to pay more pressing bills. Haney said the Bargain Box, a Hilton Head thrift store, provides the group with clothes it can't sell.

Thrift stores said both sales and donations have been increasing as people come to find good deals and spring-cleaners empty out their closets.

Karen Edwards, president of the Bargain Box's board of directors, said donations have been steady.

"People are continuing to shop here because they can get good value for their money," she said of the store, which awarded $400,000 in grants from proceeds of sales from last year.

St. Francis Thrift Shop manager Hal Wieland said the number of vouchers the church gives to people to use at the store has risen this year. Clothing and other household donations, however, have been strong, he said.

The store is missing high-value items such as sofas and other furniture, Wieland said.

For example, St. Francis Thrift Shop used to get furniture donations from rental owners who renovated their units. Those donations have not been coming in this year, he said, which seems to indicate the current economic conditions are affecting many people.