All charities will suffer from the social distancing, curfews and business closings that have been enacted to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
But South Jersey nonprofits that deal with people who are already vulnerable, including cancer patients, homeless people and autistic and foster children, are having a particularly challenging time as the money they expected to have in hand decreases from canceled or postponed spring fundraisers.
The need for money is dire for Gilda’s Club South Jersey, CEO Andrew Kerstein said.
Gilda’s Club is dedicated to helping families find the support and resources they need to learn how to live with cancer.
“This is having a very significant impact. We need to actually increase expenses. We can’t hold in-person groups. Telecommunication or a virtual-type of support is expensive,” Kerstein said.
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During the next six months, Gilda’s Club South Jersey was supposed to receive money from a fundraising event called the Puppet Pub held during the 2020 Atlantic City Beer & Music Festival, which was rescheduled from April 3 and 4 to Aug. 7 and 8.
Gilda’s Club planned its own fundraiser at the Palm Restaurant at Tropicana Atlantic City in mid-April, and Vagabond in Egg Harbor Township was planning a fundraiser for Gilda’s Club tied to the Kentucky Derby, but the iconic horse race has been pushed back to September, Kerstein said.
The club would have received $50,000 to $100,000 based on the success of those events, Kerstein said.
South Jersey residents can help his organization with donations of as little as $5, $10 or $20 at gildasclubsouthjersey.org
The Beer & Music Festival also was supposed to be the site for a fundraiser for Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, said Karen DeRosa, director of community development for the nonprofit.
CASA volunteers see their assigned children regularly and ensure that each child’s rights and needs are being attended to while in foster care.
The beer festival was to host a We Bee’r’ Spelling Event, an adult spelling bee that would have benefited CASA for the first time, DeRosa said.
CASA also was supposed to receive money from the Superhero 1 Mile Walk Run originally scheduled for April 25, which is tied to the Atlantic City Marathon Race Series and the Milton & Betty Katz JCC in Margate.
The JCC and CASA are working together to consider future dates in conjunction with the Atlantic City Marathon Race Series, said Genia Bittner, marketing and event director for the race series.
As a result of all this, this spring, CASA will receive $15,000 to $20,000 less than expected, DeRosa said.
“They are already traumatized,” said DeRosa about the impact of the new coronavirus on children who have already been removed from their biological parents. “We need to support each other during this process.
The Atlantic City Rescue Mission had three fundraising events scheduled — golf tournament, a concert and a gala — that were all postponed, said Dan Brown, the rescue misson’s president and CEO.
Collectively, these three events would net the rescue mission hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time when the average amount of meals served daily has increased from 300 a month to 500 a month, Brown said.
“It is really going to be a tough year. We have already had a drop in dailying fundraising. As people lose their jobs, it will be tougher, tougher to give,” Brown said.
Brown asks people to consider making a donation to the rescue mission, if they still have jobs and have extra money because they are not spending it on entertainment or eating out at a restaurant.
“This is a wakeup call for us all,” Brown said.
Autistic children do better when there is stability and consistency, and that has been upended due to COVID-19, said Isabella Mosca, a board member of F.A.C.E.S. 4 Autism.
Some school-age children are now home during business hours on weekdays, which requires adjustments on both the parents’ and the children’s part. Mosca said the calls she receives have increased as the parents of autistic children try to work from home while also handling their children’s school responsibilities.
“We are doing a lot of Facebook Live and Zoom meetings,” said Mosca, who added a psychologist came on to help parents out.
The nonprofit could lose as much as $3,000 through the cancellation or postponement of its fundraising events, Mosca said.
F.A.C.E.S.’ Whine, Women & Song fundraiser at Josie Kelly’s Public House in Somers Point has been moved from March 27 to an undetermined date in the summer, Mosca said.
April is also World Autism Month, and F.A.C.E.S. had 20 events scheduled at different locations, which have all been canceled, including a bubble-blowing event that usually takes place at various schools, Mosca said.
In its place, F.A.C.E.S. is promoting a virtual Bubbles 4 Autism Day, where people can take pictures of themselves blowing bubbles at any point in their yards or on their patios, front steps or balconies and post the photos on the organization’s Facebook page.
