Here are some charities looking for donations of toys, money, foodstuff

Skittish consumers, combined with growing community needs, spell a shortfall in meeting holiday wishes, but there's still time if you want to burnish your Christmas karma.

Here's a roundup of the biggest needs:

Giving Tree Outreach Program

Organizers of the Christian-based, non-profit serving the homeless expect to serve 1,000 people between lunch and dinner on Christmas Day.

"We're desperate for food. We don't even have 10 percent of what we need," director Libby Wright said Friday. Turkeys, hams, side dishes and pies would all be appreciated, along with non-perishable food for food boxes. Gift cards for grocery stores also help staff respond immediately to shortages, she said.

Toys for children are also appreciated, she said.

Lunch will be from noon to 1 p.m. at the Compassion Hope Center, 4650 E. Eastland St.

Dinner will follow from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. in a vacant lot along East 22nd Street between Columbus Boulevard and Swan Road. The lot is on the north side of 22nd Street, next to the Family Dollar Store.

For more information, call 320-5437 or go to www.thegivingtreeoutreach.org

Salvation Army

About 3,600 meals are expected to be served from 11 to 1:30 p.m. Christmas Day at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave.

The agency is doing OK on turkeys and hams, said spokeswoman Tamara McElwee, but organizers are coming up short on pre-baked pies.

The toy drive, in its last stages, is looking dismal. Organizers had hoped to get 35,000 toys for needy children, but so far, they only have 14,000 to distribute among 1,900 families. Last year, the Salvation Army met its goal of 25,000 toys.

Kettle collections are still down 25 percent from last year, as well, she said.

"With gas prices and the mortgage problems and corporate layoffs, we're seeing a little more conservatism and caution in donating," said McElwee.

While the Salvation Army's administrative offices at 1001 N. Richey Blvd. are closed over the weekend, to reopen Monday, the Hospitality House shelter, 1021 N. 11th Ave., will be open and taking donations. While you're there, if you have any gently used clothing, jackets or blankets, the shelter could use them, including clothing for children.

For more information, call 795-9671.

Toys for Tots

Between monetary and toy donations, the four Marines who run the program were able to provide 40,000 toys to social service agencies within the community. That didn't meet the drive's goal of 60,000, so the agencies had to cut their requests.

"We're still very short," said Marine reservist Eric Martinez, a staff sergeant who volunteers his time to coordinate the effort. He, too, noticed that economic uncertainties are denting generosity. "People are about to lose their homes. That's the big thing. They'd say, 'I'd do it, but I have to make my house payment.' "

Toys and monetary donations are still being accepted at any fire station in town, at Winterhaven and at the Reid Park Zoo's Zoo Lights program, which runs through Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m., Martinez said.

Tucson Community Food Bank

Like most social service agencies, the Food Bank relies heavily on the holiday season, when donors are in a generous frame of mind. "Everybody thinks about feeding the hungry during the holiday season, then donations drop off," said spokesman Jack Parris. "What we need is to get in enough food to carry us into the first few months of next year."

While donations are running about average with previous years, demand is up 25 percent. Last year, the agency gave out 12,000 emergency food boxes a month. This year, requests are running about 15,000 a month. "That's where the squeeze comes in," Parris said, adding the agency can use non-perishable items such as canned meats, soups and peanut butter.

Monetary donations also go a long way. Since the agency buys in bulk, it can make one dollar stretch into $10 worth of food. Donors Jim and Sandy Peebles went public this week with a $25,000 contribution to the program. They've supported the program anonymously for the past six years, after responding to a challenge from auto dealer Jim Click in 2002, but decided to make their gift public this year in the hopes of encouraging others to help close the shortage.

Food donations are being accepted at the food bank, 3003 S. Country Club, as well as at all Bashas' Supermarkets, Yokohama Rice Bowl locations and Bookmans Entertainment Exchange stores.

For more information, call 622-0525.

Casa de Los Niños

The Holiday Wish Tree clothing drive is behind in collections, and the agency is hoping for basics, such as clothing, diapers, diaper ointments, toothbrushes and shampoo to help it get through the upcoming year. The agency shelters 500 children a year and supports hundreds of families in the community.

The Holiday Wish Tree, in which donors adopt families by plucking ornaments off trees at the Casa de los Niños Thrift Store, serves 300 families.

"We're off to a slow start, but I'm hopeful that we'll start to see things pick up," said Executive Director Susie Huhn. "It's been a last-minute season," she said.

The Casa de Los Niños Thrift Store is at East Prince Road and North Mountain Avenue. For more information, head to www.casadelosninos.org or call 624-5600.

"People are about to lose their homes. That's the big thing. They'd say, 'I'd do it, but I have to make my house payment.' "

Staff Sgt. Eric Martinez

a Marine who volunteers his time to coordinate Toys for Tots