It's crunch time for the Burnaby Christmas Bureau - and things don't look good.
With just a week to go till Christmas and families already arriving to pick up toys and food gift cards, the bureau is a full $60,000 short of their $190,000 financial goal.
"This is not where we would hope to be so close to Christmas," said Stephen D'Souza, executive director with the bureau, on Thursday morning. "We're $60,000 short of the full goal; we're usually a lot closer to being done at this point."
The bureau is already in a financially precarious position following a jump in clients over the last few years. Combined with a decrease and then levelling-off of donations during the same period, the bureau was forced to dig into its reserves.
Over the course of a decade, Burnaby Community Connections - the organization that runs the bureau - had built up a financial reserve of about $100,000. By the end of last year's campaign, they'd needed to use nearly $50,000 of it.
At the beginning of this year's campaign, D'Souza said it was critical they reach their goal to avoid dipping back into the reserve.
Now, unless the donations come in - and soon - the last remaining reserve will be eaten up.
"It won't be good," said D'Souza, when asked about the long-term impact. "It will dramatically change the way we operate."
Burnaby Community Connections runs a variety of programs aside from the Christmas Bureau, including Meals on Wheels, the Camping Bureau, the recreation credit program and a seniors' transportation program.
D'Souza says they're hoping that people and businesses in the community will step up in the final days of this year's campaign when it's most needed.
"I think donors are giving what they can," said D'Souza, noting that the rough economy has impacted the amount of donations they've received.
"But I think it's maybe also taking a while for people to get into the Christmas spirit this year - maybe it's the economy, worrying about employment."
He said they've noticed there seem to be fewer decorations around the city and fewer people coming in to their temporary location in Metropolis at Metrotown, near the Winners on the second level, with spontaneous donations.
"We just want to encourage people to get in the spirit, to enjoy their Christmas, and to celebrate," he said.
Part of that celebration, he says, is getting involved with the community and knowing that residents throughout the city are going to have a good Christmas day.
Anyone who wants to make a financial donation can do so online (www.burnabycommunityconnections.com), by phone (604-299-5778) or in person at their temporary Metropolis location (open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekend.)
D'Souza also notes they've got a good number of toy donations in their toy room for younger kids, but they're very short for those in the 10 and up category.
Possible toy ideas for this age range including board games, Lego sets, sports equipment, crafts, DVDs, gift cards to teen clothing stores, makeup, jewellery and simple stereos.
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