BonnerSprings.com

At the prospect of filling 250 holiday food boxes and due to increasing requests for assistance, Vaughn-Trent Community Services is reaching out to its community for help.

Since last year, requests for services at the center have increased by 37 percent, including 87 new applicants looking for aid, said Vaughn-Trent director Carol Geary. And that number could continue to rise, she said, considering the state of the country’s economy.

“It really does help a whole lot,” Geary said of the fund drive. “We’ve had an increase of people asking for services, so we need to do better this year.”

Once a year, the charity organization reaches out to the community and asks for donations and assistance to keep its operation up and running.

Given the state of the economy, Geary said, she was concerned with the way this year’s fund drive would go.

While the center’s food collection has been at a consistently high level all year, monetary donations are harder to come by.

But it’s those dollars that translate into Vaughn-Trent’s ability to offer services above and beyond just that of a food bank. Much of the monetary donations also go to day-to-day operations, such as the center’s utility bills and employee salaries.

“People don’t want to give money for operations. They want to know they’re directly helping people,” Geary said. “But to help them, we have to pay people to do the work.”

In addition to food aid, Vaughn-Trent provides assistance with utility bills, dental exams for Head Start children, school supplies, clothing and temporary lodging for stranded travelers.

In fact, Geary said, not too long ago the center got word of a stranded family that had been traveling from St. Louis to Denver when they got in a car accident. The family’s car was totaled.

Vaughn-Trent was able to get the family a dinner and put them up in a hotel for three nights and buy them bus tickets back home.

Letters to the public about Vaughn-Trent’s fund drive have been sent out, and to Geary’s surprise, she’s already seen an immediate response. Upon receiving a letter, Geary said she got a call from Southwest Steel informing her it would be donating five turkeys.

That pleasant surprise still hasn’t calmed her concerns about the entire fundraiser. With more people feeling the effects of the economy, Geary said there might just not be much out there to give.

The fund drive brought in high numbers for the center in 2006, but fell by almost $3,000 in 2007. Numbers have crept up in 2008, so Geary said she’s interested to see what the future might bring.

In addition to the fund drive, Geary said Vaughn-Trent’s thrift store is also struggling, but this time it involves a work force.

She said it was hard to get the volunteers needed to run the store, which works hand-in-hand with the center and often provides furniture and household items to those in need.

“We’re well supported by the community,” Geary said. “We’ve never had to turn anyone away. But we need the money to hopefully continue to be able to say that.”

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