Donations are down elsewhere, but on the rise at Costa Mesa

agencies

Alex Coolman

COSTA MESA -- Bucking a national trend, Orange County residents proved

exceptionally generous in their donations to charities and nonprofit

groups this year, sharing a bit of the wealth that the strong economy

generated.

But the news is not all good. Newport-Mesa charity groups also reported a

greater demand for their services as low-income residents struggled to

make ends meet.

Jean Forbath, cofounder of Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves program, said

1999 was the best year for donations the group had ever experienced.

“We broke all records,” Forbath said. “We were able to provide complete

Christmas dinners and new toys for all the children for 1,609 families.”

More than 1,200 donors contributed goods to the organization, she said.

The troubling thing, Forbath added, was that there were more people

lining up for help than there had been in earlier years.

“We have more families in need than ever before, and these are all

working families that just can’t make it on the low income and the high

rent they have to pay,” she said. “There’s an increasing gap between rich

and poor in Orange County.”

Sheri Barrios of the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter echoed Forbath’s

sentiments, noting that donors were “very generous this year,” but adding

that more people seemed to be struggling financially than in the past.

“I think it’s because we have a number of people who work and they’re low

wage earners and they can’t afford housing in Orange County,” Barrios

said. “They fill the service jobs for the hotels and the restaurants and

those kinds of things, but the wage they earn doesn’t allow them to live

in Orange County.”

The generosity of area residents and businesses stands in contrast to

nationwide trends. The New York Times reported earlier this month that

donations to charities were lagging behind levels for earlier years.

A survey by the Field Research Corp. of San Francisco, released shortly

before Christmas, showed that two-thirds of Los Angeles County residents

had made a donation to a charity -- a figure down from almost 75% in

1998.

That trend, for a time, was repeated here.

Workers at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa were concerned

earlier this month because the organization had received less than a

third of the toys it hoped to distribute to needy families.

After a Daily Pilot article describing the shortage, Someone Cares was

flooded with toys.

Lisa Fujimoto, vice president of development and advancement for the

Orange County Rescue Mission, said the mission experienced a similar

phenomenon. Before Thanksgiving, donations had slowed to a trickle.

In recent weeks, though, a sudden rush of giving has brought mission

coffers up to a level comparable to earlier years.

The gifts are sorely needed, Fujimoto said, because despite the strong

economy, many families are struggling.

“One of the biggest fallacies in the county is that with the economy so

good and unemployment so low ... there’s this perception that there isn’t

need here,” Fujimoto said. “There is incredible need.”

This perception is not one shared by all county officials.

Angelo Doti, director of family self sufficiency for Orange County’s

Social Services Agency, noted that the number of people receiving public

assistance has been declining since 1994.

A little more than 2% of county residents currently receive cash

assistance through the CalWORKs program, Doti said, compared to a 1994

figure of 7%.

Use of food stamps has also declined during the same period, Doti noted.

Some of the people who are no longer receiving public assistance may now

be taking advantage of the services offered by groups like Someone Cares,

Doti said.

“They may have surfaced again at these community-based organizations,” he

said.