Charities report tight finances in COVID era

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a major dent into the operations of charities across the island, with donations dwindling and fundraising activities drying up over the past two years while the need for assistance continues to rise, four charities said Thursday.

Variety the Children’s Charity, RSPCA, Verdun House and the Barbados Alliance to End Homelessness (BAEH) painted the dire picture of how the pandemic has put a major spoke in the wheels of their operation.

They were speaking during a press conference where Trident Insurance announced the launch of its Policies to Empower People initiative to provide the charities with support. Under the initiative, the charities will get a percentage from the premiums of Trident Insurance policyholders between September and December.

Marita Greenidge, President of Variety the Children’s Charity, said any assistance at this time was absolutely crucial to the charities’ survival and people being able to get the needed help.

The charity had to shift its entire operational structure virtually to slash administrative spending, but this was simply not enough to adequately continue its programmes since “donations are down”, she said.

The 36-year-old organisation’s annual fundraising events – Row for Charity and the Gold Heart Pin campaign – which usually rake in thousands of dollars, have become casualties of the pandemic, which has resulted in lockdowns, ban on certain events and limitation on the number of people at certain events.

Two years now without any fundraising, Greenidge said: “Those are big earners for us. Gold Hearts alone would bring in about $60 000 or so. So you can imagine when you don’t have these events running it is very difficult to support the programmes that you want to push forward.

“On the flip side, what we are seeing, because of the social and economic situation, is that more people are coming to the charity. So you have less donations coming in and you have more people because there is a greater need in the society.”

Greenidge said the charity would usually spend roughly $60 000 annually on its back-to-school assistance programme. It is expected to help about 300 students this year with back-to-school supplies.

“We now have people coming to the charity who have never come to the charity before. Times are so difficult now that they don’t have anywhere to go. They can’t get help from a family member and might not be able to get access to welfare or they might not be getting support from their partners. This is actually with some people who do have jobs and their expenses are now so high.”

Kristina Evelyn, Operations Manager at Verdun House, a rehabilitation centre and member of the Substance Abuse Foundation Inc., also painted a similar picture of the impact of the pandemic on that organisation.

“The need for our services has increased at Verdun House but donations are down [and] our fundraising has been curtailed,” said Evelyn.

Pointing out that the pandemic has caused major changes to the operations at the rehab facility, Evelyn said the situation was also impacting on the counsellors who were now “stretched to their limit”.

“Our policy at Verdun is that we do not turn away anyone who needs help,” she said. “So with less funding we are helping more people.”

While a lot of the focus has been on people, animals have also been dramatically affected by the pandemic, whether they are being abandoned or being handed over to the RSPCA due to owners no longer able to care for them.

President of the RSPCA, Pooka Yhap, said that since COVID-19 started to affect Barbados in March 2020, more animals were turned over to its care.

At the same time, Yhap said the number of animals finding homes have been on the increase, especially this year.

She reported that on average, some 40 adoptions would be done per month, but for the first six months of this year that number had more than doubled.

Yhap said: “We have had an increase in the surrendering of animals due to the financial situation of many households, donations have declined and we also haven’t been able to have our golf tournament and usual sponsorships. The feeding and cleaning of the animals have risen and our income stream, the boarding kennels, has been zero in 2020 due to the lack of Barbadians travelling overseas.

“Our adoption number so far for 2021 is encouraging. It is 506 animals that we have found homes for. But while this number is encouraging, it should be noted that it comes at a high cost because every animal we put in the public we neuter and go through a tick and flea programme and the shots for the puppies and a vet consultation, then we have the feeding and watering and cleaning of kennels.”

The RSPCA has just about 300 animals at any given time. There are currently 130 cats and kittens and 147 dogs waiting to be adopted.

Yhap described as “forward-thinking”, the decision by Trident Insurance to include the animal charity in the list of companies to benefit from the Policies to Empower People scheme.

Kemar Saffrey, Founder and President of the BAEH, also reported an increase in the number of people seeking assistance from his charity, including both locals and tourists.

He said he was especially seeing more women and men coming to the shelter with children, due mainly to their inability to pay their rent or get welfare assistance. The shelter is able to cater for up to 90 people a day.
(marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)