Cash Donations Up but Tangible Gifts Lacking, Charities Say : Philanthropy: One agency director blames ‘compassion fatigue’ for fewer toys and clothes being given this holiday season.

Although donations to charity this holiday season were higher than average at the business-office end, local agencies report that at the front lines, gifts of clothes, toys and food were down.

With the nation’s economy on the rebound, many charitable organizations are reporting record increases in monetary donations from corporations, foundations and individuals.

Joe Colletti, director of Lutheran Social Services for the San Gabriel Valley, said that just before Christmas, his office in Pasadena is usually packed with dozens of boxes filled with donated clothing, food and toys.

This year, he had one box.

“I’m amazed at how little came in,” Colletti said.

Lutheran Social Services operates two homeless shelters in Pasadena--one for men, the other for women and children. The organization also operates a cold-weather shelter in the East San Gabriel Valley.

Colletti said people who normally donate clothes, toys and food are suffering from what he calls “compassion fatigue.”

“People have given a lot in Los Angeles County, between the fires, the earthquake and (riots). Maybe they’ve been stretched to the limits with all these other events,” he said.

Frank Clark, special-events coordinator for Union Station, a homeless shelter in Pasadena, also said donations of food, clothes and toys have declined this year. Not in quantity, but in quality.

“Just to give you an idea, instead of a large tube of toothpaste, people are giving small tubes. Instead of expensive dolls, they are giving stuffed teddy bears,” Clark said.

Yet money donations to local charities were up by as much as 10%.

“I just think people are feeling a little better and are more willing to share,” said Russell Prince, executive director of development for the Salvation Army’s Southern California Division.

Possibly the nation’s most easily recognized charity is the Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle Program, which started in San Francisco in 1891. Most of the kettle program’s five Los Angeles County regions pulled in more money this holiday season, Prince said. Collections in the Pasadena area, which includes collection sites in San Marino, South Pasadena and Altadena, exceeded the $61,449 collected last year by $7,374.

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which provides funding for 300 social service organizations throughout Los Angeles County, also reports that donations--individual United Way donations come largely through payroll deductions--were up 7% in 1994 over the year before.

Nationwide, $126 billion has been donated to charity, with 88% of it from private individuals, said Dan Langan of the National Charities Information Bureau in New York.

“Giving, per household, was down somewhat last year. But giving has continued to grow without fail every year, ever since we started tracking it in the 1960s,” Langan said.

For some reason, though, donations of clothing, toys and food are down dramatically from previous years, said Maria Nunez, acting director of the Volunteer Center of the San Gabriel Valley.

This Christmas, center volunteers helped deliver Christmas trees to the elderly for the Senior Care Network of Pasadena. Center volunteers also helped the Navidad en el Barrio program distribute food baskets to 175 needy families in the West San Gabriel Valley.

“I think last year and the year before were more prosperous than this year,” said Nunez, a resident of San Gabriel who has been with the Volunteer Center for the past six years.

“This year we didn’t get that many donations. The spirit just wasn’t there.”