Pandemic challenging for charities

Tonight - charities across north alabama are gearing up for the holiday season.

But many of them are struggling to collect donations because of the pandemic.

Waay 31's casey albritton is live at "united way" with how organization leaders are trying to make up for the lack of donations.

Casey?

Many non-profits typically try to collect common items like toilet paper or canned food-- but because of the pandemic, those staples are in short supply and they haven't been receiving as much.

Now they're asking people to go online and donate money.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "in our line of work, we do have to deal with a lot of situations.

I don't think anyone was prepared for a situation like this."

Jessica bubmalough walks into her office every day--brainstorming ways to help those in need.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "we're needing those donations again."

She works for casa of madison county-- a group that helps elderly people and those who are home-bound-- and with coronavirus numbers rising in north alabama, she is working harder than ever.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "we know that it's even more important now to keep our clients safe at home."

She says casa typically collects items like-- jessica bumbalough/ casa "cleaning supplies, hygiene items, toilet paper, paper products."

But the pandemic has made that difficult.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "some of our donors say 'we really want to bring it, but we can't find it.'" another project casa focuses on is building ramps at homes for people in wheelchairs--but she says coronavirus has made that a challenge too.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "whereas a ramp may have cost us somewhere around 300 something dollars, now it's costing us 600."

Casa of madison county isn't the only organization being impacted.

Lunn bullard/ nach volunteer "donations do seem to be down a little."

Lynn bullard with the north alabama coalition for the homeless is busy trying to collect blankets and coats --but right now, she has a nearly empty box.

Lunn bullard/ nach volunteer "most of our drop off sites are churches and congregations of course are coming back, but not to the extent that we did before the pandemic."

Both groups are asking people in north alabama to give this holiday season-- whether that's in-person or online.

Jessica bumbalough/ casa "we believe in our mission.

We believe that what we do matters and we believe that we are doing good in our community and if we're not able to do that, it's kind of like you're a little lost."

If you would like to donate to either casa of madison county or the north alabama coalition for the homeless, you can find more information at our website at waay tv dot com.

Live in huntsville, casey albritton, waay