By Jamie Venneman
The holiday season is notoriously a busy time of year, as shopping for presents, holiday feasts and dazzling parties often consume people''s minds.
Without exception is the Utah Food Bank which collects at least 3.5 million pounds of food per year. 2 million of that must come from holiday food drives.
'Over half must come from food drives during the holidays,' said Amberlie Phillips, development director in charge of fundraising at Utah Food Bank. 'Obviously, it''s our busiest time of year.'
Many non-profits depend on holiday drives, but food bank workers have been spooked by recent news articles and studies that mention dropping donations rates.
According to a recent poll by Harris Interactive, the reason for these rumors is a lack of public trust. Though a majority of Americans polled have positive feelings toward charities, only one in 10 said that they felt charities were honest and ethical in how donations are used, the poll said.
' suggests that non-profits could communicate more to the public about the real improvements in individual lives and communities that their altruism translates into,' said David Clayton, vice president of the non-profit and social issues research group at Harris Interactive, in the study.
Non-profit organizations do not seem to be feeling the strain yet. Bill Grein, vice president for marketing and developing for the Marine Toys for Tots program, said that Toys for Tots avoids setting goals for each year.
'We''re a Marine Corp program; we have to very careful,' Grein said. 'You give a Marine a mission, and he''s gonna get it done.'
Grein said the program''s only hope is to 'do better than the year before,' and it has. Each decade, Toys for Tots is able to bring Christmas to more children.
'Children in need, the Marine Corp and Christmas all combine for a pretty good program,' Grein said.
He said he is unconcerned with the rumors that donations are dropping
'That may be so in some cases, we''ve seen nothing that would prove that,' Grein said.
However, as one of the larger organizations, Toys for Tots may not feel the same negative effects. The National Center for Charitable Statistics'' Nonprofit Almanac reported that 1.4 million non-profit organizations were registered with the IRS in 2004 - 27 percent more than were registered in 1994.
Community Action Food Bank (CAFB) conducts numerous drives every holiday season, one of them being the BYU vs. U of U food fight. With rising food needs and rumors of lowering donations every year, the food bank could suffer.
'If we had even a small decrease in donations in the food drive, it would mean that we would have a harder time getting through the summer months until the next holiday season,' said Myla Dutton, executive director for Community Action Services.
The bank holds no food drives from June through October, and even now, September at the food bank means they''re scraping by.
'We have not had to turn any families away, but it very close,' Dutton said.
Though both the Utah Food Bank and Community Action Food Bank may hear rumors of dropping donations, the two food banks have been lucky not to see any indication of it yet.
'Most charities typically run with very tight budgets and every donation makes a difference,' Hoshino said. 'So, the generosity exhibited throughout the holidays is usually a great boost for most charities.'