Military families struggling
Image from Flickr.
This holiday season is going to be a tough one for a lot of people. So many families are struggling economically, and fewer people are donating to charity. This has hit Operation Homefront especially hard.
Operation Homefront is a charitable organization that helps military families. Requests for assistance from Operation Homefront are a ridiculous 86 percent higher than last year. Operation Homefront also reports that there has been a large drop in cash donations.
Strapped for cash
Though members of the military can qualify for military loans, it’s getting tougher to afford everything, including paying back those loans. USA Today reports:
Although active-duty troops can count on a regular paycheck from Uncle Sam, many military families face the same pressures affecting other Americans during this downturn: Spouses are having difficulty finding work, and mounting debts and foreclosures are forcing them out of rental homes, says John Alexander of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.
One business has already stepped up to help. Wal-Mart will be providing toys to thousands of military parents. Wal-Mart will set up temporary stores outside military bases and give away $1.1 million worth of toys. Operation Homefront will choose 50 families to get $1,000 Wal-Mart shopping sprees.
Give a little
If you have just a little bit of extra cash, you could make a big difference. Small donations can do a whole lot of good, and many organizations are facing the same troubles that Operation Homefront is dealing with. More people need help, but fewer people have help to give.
There are plenty of sites out there that make it fast and easy to give to all kinds of organizations. Check out these sites, and do some good this holiday season. Small donations make a bigger difference than you think. It doesn’t take hundreds of dollars to feed people who don’t have enough to eat. If we all give just a little bit we can help a lot.
