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Local agency coffers dry as aid goes to disaster needs

By Melodie Woerman

Editor, The Harvest

Jay Lehnertz is worried. He has seen giving to Episcopal Community Services drop so much in recent weeks that the agency is nearly out of money.

This is the first time he’s seen such a dire financial situation in the seven years he has been executive director of the agency that provides volunteer opportunities for Episcopalians on both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line.

He said it appears that the generosity people have shown for victims of natural disasters, including this summer’s hurricanes and last winter’s tsunami in Southeast Asia, have cut into giving to local agencies. Giving to ECS’s year-end annual appeal is down some $20,000 from a high of $70,000 in 2003, he said. He saw a reduction last year, attributable in part to aid for tsunami victims in the days right after Christmas.

While some grants should be arriving in coming weeks to ease the shortfall, Lehnertz said he worries that giving will remain down.

And it’s more than money — food contributions are way down, too, according to Deacon Allen Ohlstein, director of ECS’s Anti-Hunger Network. He said the food pantry at St. Paul’s, Kansas City has suffered in recent months, due in part to some government commodities being redirected to those in need in the Gulf Coast.

Sandra Lyon, executive director of Episcopal Social Services in Wichita, said her agency also has seen a decline in giving. She said the agency budgets about $100,000 a year from individual contributions and so far has received less than $50,000. She said she expects eventually to receive about $65,000, but that shortfall will be noticeable.

Partner opportunities

But at least at St. Paul’s food pantry, the current shortfall is creating new partnerships among area parishes. Ohlstein said the Anti-Hunger Network began a coordinated effort to collect food for the pantry by the people of St. Michael’s, Mission and St. Thomas, Overland Park. They since have been joined by St. Francis, Overland Park, St. Aidan’s, Olathe and St. Paul’s, Leavenworth.

The result, he said, is that the pantry now will be called “The Episcopal Community Cupboard at St. Paul’s.”

“This new identity reflects the congregations’ decision to respond to this community need as an Episcopal community, not merely individual congregations,” Ohlstein said. “They recognized that what they were addressing was not just St. Paul’s challenge but their challenge as members of the church.”

A major shift?

Lehnertz said he is concerned that this current shortage of funds may reflect a shift in giving away from local needs to crisis relief organizations.

He noted a recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows that philanthropic giving in the United States has remained steady for the past 40 years at about 1.9 percent of gross domestic product annually. As giving to emergency needs rises, giving to local charities likely will suffer. And some people are reporting that they intend to make that shift a permanent part of their charitable giving, according to the Journal article.

‘We can do more’

Lyon said she told potential ESS donors she understands the great needs along the U.S. Gulf Coast and commends aid there but asks that help also be given to Wichita’s neediest.