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In time of need, community bands together to support nonprofits

Community. Through a tumultuous year, nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations continue to provide essential services to at-risk groups.

| 12 Mar 2021 | 10:53
    Arlene Kayne of the Sparta Woman’s Club, who serves as the club’s liaison with Family Promise of Sussex County, is pictured with Nichole Reed, the event coordinator for Family Promise. The Sparta Women’s Club was one of many groups to support Family Promise.
    Arlene Kayne of the Sparta Woman’s Club, who serves as the club’s liaison with Family Promise of Sussex County, is pictured with Nichole Reed, the event coordinator for Family Promise. The Sparta Women’s Club was one of many groups to support Family Promise.
    A sampling of the Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry’s many volunteers. (Source: Facebook)
    A sampling of the Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry’s many volunteers. (Source: Facebook)

Since the pandemic hit last March, local nonprofits experienced a surge in demand for their services — and with help from the community, they were able to meet the need.

‘A different year’

When asked how the past year has been different for not-for-profit Pike County Area Agency on Aging (AAA), executive director Robin Skibber chuckled, exhausted: “Can I use profanity, or?”

But on a serious note, she said, “It’s been nonstop challenging. Since we work with the seniors, so many facets of (the pandemic) affected them so much more.”

The Agency on Aging provides a variety of services to more than 1,000 seniors and individuals with disabilities throughout Pike County. And for a year now, AAA has been doing so from afar — not an easy feat, especially with the increased support needed for seniors during the pandemic. The agency’s homebound meal delivery service, which is just one of its many programs, saw a 66% increase in registrants since March 2020.

The Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry, too, saw an immense increase in need. In November 2020, the pantry served roughly three times as many individuals than it had in previous years.

“It’s been a different year,” said Chris Butto, executive director of Sussex County Family Promise, a nonprofit that works to prevent homelessness in the area.

“There’s a lot of new clients this year that have a never experienced homelessness before. Through no fault of their own, they’ve lost their jobs, they’ve been on unemployment for an extended amount of time, and they didn’t know the resources available to them.”

Over the course of 2020, Family Promise served 266 households and 566 individuals through a variety of programs, from financial counseling, to coordinating housing for those at risk of facing homelessness.

Community support

Family Promise’s major fundraiser, a dinner auction at Crystal Spring’s Black Bear Golf Club, was scheduled for two weeks after everything shut down last March. Needless to say, it didn’t happen.

Many organizations rely on galas, dinners, and other events to stay afloat financially.

“We had to come up with all new ways to engage the community,” said Butto. “And the community has been incredibly supportive and generous.”

The Pike County Agency on Aging, Family Promise, and The Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry have all watched the community step up time and time again whenever they needed donations of everything from personal hygiene products to money.

“A lot of local groups stepped up and did blanket drives, coat drives, hat, gloves and scarf drives,” said Butto. “Any time that we said ‘we need,’ these groups were out there and did drives, and they brought it to us.”

The outpouring of local support for the Goshen Food Pantry is so significant that the pantry is now putting some of its funds back into the Goshen economy, purchasing bagels from the local bagel shop to include in the bags of groceries they distribute.

Speaking for many, AAA director Robin Skibber said: “The community support has been tremendous.”

How far a $100 donation goes:
$100 would provide six weeks’ worth of meals to one of the homebound seniors on the Pike County Agency on Aging’s meal delivery service.
$100 donated to the Goshen Ecumenical Food Pantry results in about $600 worth of groceries for those who use the pantry, since the pantry is able to purchase food at a discounted rate from food banks.
$100 could help one of Family Promise’s clients pay a utility bill, or provide meals or blankets for a household enrolled in Family Promise’s services.
Nonprofit vs not-for-profit organizations:
There are three key differences between a nonprofit and a not-for-profit, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (uschamber.com):
Nonprofits are formed explicitly to benefit the public good; not-for-profits exist to fulfill an owner’s organizational objectives.
Nonprofits can have a separate legal entity; not-for-profits cannot have a separate legal entity.
Nonprofits run like a business and try to earn a profit that does not support any single member; not-for-profits are considered “recreational organizations” that do not operate with the business goal of earning revenue.
Nonprofits may have employees who are paid, but their paychecks do not come through fundraising; not-for-profits are run by volunteers.
Nonprofits are granted 501(c)(3) status by the Internal Revenue Service. not-for-profits are also governed by IRS tax code section 501(c), but depending on their purpose, they could fall under a different section, like section 501(c)(7).
Local examples: Pike County Area Agency on Aging is a not-for-profit. Sussex County Family Promise is a nonprofit.