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March 31, 2010

Businesses find ways to support charities in down economy

By Alan Burke The Salem News Wed Mar 31, 2010, 01:00 AM EDT

This article has been corrected since publication. To see the correction, click here.

WENHAM — When hard times come, it's nice to have friends, someone who might help you find a new job or a place to live, or, in the worst case, a bite to eat.

Yet, personal friends can only do so much, and here on the North Shore, nonprofit charities often step in to fill the gaps. Unfortunately, in a severe economic downturn, when the need is greatest, the nonprofits feel the strain as their profit-making counterparts find it harder and harder to donate.

Jerry McCarthy of Northeast Arc, an organization dedicated to helping the disabled, offers graphic evidence on the problem.

"Last year, our annual appeal raised $35,000," he said. "This year, we raised $7,000 to $8,000."

Arc is competing for a shrinking pool of dollars with other nonprofit organizations and charities. Money poured into Haiti following the earthquake, including funds that might otherwise have gone to Arc. State funding is likewise dramatically reduced.

"We've had to cut some programs," McCarthy said. "In tough times like these, resources dry up, and there are a lot more people in need."

Meanwhile, Arc has launched a new initiative.

"We want to get companies to know us a lot better," McCarthy said, "to know our people."

A business can provide manpower, volunteers to help tidy up group homes, for example. Similarly, they can even provide jobs for the disabled.

The link between nonprofit organizations and businesses is strong enough and important enough that the Gordon College Center for Nonprofit Studies recently held a forum on it at the school's Ken Olsen Science Center.

"Financially, we're in a little bit of a rough patch," center co-director Ted Wood told a group that included many Gordon students. Creativity is needed to overcome the problem, he said. "Especially in an economy like ours, how can we work together?"

"There are so many good projects out there," urged David Welbourn, president and CEO of Essex County Community Foundation. "We raise lots of money, and we give it away as fast as we can. ... It's a wonderful thing to do."

Welbourn offered some impressive statistics. There are 2,500 nonprofit organizations in Essex County. Across the country, Americans donate $300 billion a year to charity. State and federal funds also supplement many nonprofit organizations.

The business side of the equation was represented by Esther Schlorholtz, a vice president at Boston Private Bank, which has a branch in Beverly, and Robert Lubrano from Electric Insurance in Beverly, a division of General Electric.

Working with nonprofits involves more than throwing money their way, Lubrano indicated, pointing to efforts made at Electric Insurance to involve employees in doing hands-on work for organizations including Arc. Teams of company employees also help with planting and harvesting at Food Project Lincoln Farm.

The farm has an educational mission, Lubrano said. "And they provide food for folks who don't have access to fresh produce."

In addition, the company and its employees both made donations to organizations like the American Red Cross and the North Shore Medical Center. "We take part in the cancer walk."

For her part, Schlorholtz cited a practical reason for such efforts, the need for businesses to engage the community at large and raise the standard of living.

"As you know," Schlorholtz cited the recent finance emergency, "everybody hates banks right now. Although it was only a few of the large banks that caused all the trouble."

"We don't hate you, Esther," laughed Georgina Keefe-Feldman, Arc's director of development in Danvers, suggesting the goodwill that businesses can gain by their links with nonprofit companies.

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