'Gifts that Save the Day' Underway

The McKean-Potter Counties American Red Cross has launched its holiday giving campaign, urging residents to make a gift that could save the day for someone in need.

The Red Cross campaign features a holiday giving catalog, www.redcross.org/gifts. A Spanish-language version of the catalog is also available, www.cruzrojaamericana.org/catalogo.

The gift catalog has more than 20 gift ideas — such as assisting someone in the military with a phone card or supplies, providing food and shelter to a disaster victim, covering the costs of snacks at a blood drive, or giving basic necessities to a family in another country.

“The holiday season is a time of hope, and a gift to the Red Cross provides hope when the next disaster strikes, when a neighbor’s house burns down, when someone needs life-saving blood or when a child needs a hug and a blanket,” said Jason Bange, executive director. “A gift to the Red Cross can save the day for people in need, whether they are down the street, across the country, or around the world.”

Right now there are many people who have been affected by the recent flooding across McKean and Potter Counties and the Red Cross is working to meet the needs of both the flood victims and recent home fire victims. “This fiscal year alone (since July) the local chapter has provided almost $11,000 in financial assistance to families displaced by disasters,” said Bange. “Contributions to our Holiday Campaign will ensure adequate funding so that the chapter can continue to meet local needs. Whether the donation is made online or mailed to the local chapter, each gift is a tax-deductible contribution to the overall mission of the American Red Cross and goes a long way to help those in need in your local community.”

National Survey Shows People Plan to Support Charities This Holiday Season
The Red Cross kicked off its 2010 holiday giving effort as a new national survey shows that despite the economic downturn, people remain committed to digging deep into their pockets to support charitable causes this holiday season even as they cut back more on other holiday activities.

Nearly three in four people (72 percent) expect to give more or about the same to charity as they did last year, according to the national survey for the American Red Cross, which was conducted October 21-24.

This commitment to support charities during the holiday season occurs even as 86 percent of Americans reported their personal finances are the same or worse than they were last year.

The Red Cross survey shows seven in 10 people (70 percent) are planning to reduce spending for at least one common holiday expense. More than four in 10 plan to reduce spending on travel (43 percent) and decorations (45 percent), and more than a third will make cuts in entertaining (38 percent) and gifts (35 percent) for friends and family. By comparison, only about one of five (23 percent) are planning to reduce their charitable contributions compared to last year.

About a third (32 percent) say they are not planning charitable donations over the holidays, with half of them (52 percent) saying they just don’t have the money to donate.

And nearly six in 10 (58 percent) say that because the economy is in bad shape, it is more important this year to give to charity.

“It’s gratifying to see that while the personal finances of many people are strained, they still feel a strong desire to do what they can to help someone else in need,” Bange said.

More Women Committed to Donations to Charity, but Men Giving Higher Amounts

The Red Cross survey found that women have a strong sense of giving as a part of the holiday tradition and are more likely to take the current economy into consideration when giving. When it comes to opening their wallets, however, men tend to give charitably in higher amounts.

About seven in eight women (86 percent) say that helping someone less fortunate is an important part of the holiday tradition, higher than the 69 percent of men. Nearly two in three women (65 percent) feel charitable giving is more important in light of the economy; only half of men (51 percent) agree.

However, while women report a higher propensity to give, the survey shows that men seem to dig a little deeper to do so. Of the three in five Americans (57 percent) planning to donate to charity this holiday season, around two in five men (38 percent) will give more than $100 to charity. Only about one in four women (24 percent) plan to donate that amount.

*These results are based on a national probability sample of 1,005 telephone interviews among adults 18 years and older living in private households in the continental United States, conducted from October 21-24, 2010. The margin of error for data based on total sample is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The survey was conducted by CARAVAN®, an omnibus service of Infogroup ORC for American Red Cross.