Gift cards, an ideal donation

You might think toys, or even hats, mittens or treats would be the most welcomed items this holiday season at Fox Valley agencies that help the needy.

But each respectfully asks you to also consider the following holiday present:

Gift cards.

"Everybody wants to give toys for Christmas, which is understandable," said Darlene Marcusson, executive director of Lazarus House in St. Charles. "But problems can happen. Too many toys with too little storage. A child gets 47 toys but no underwear or other clothes for school, or school supplies.

"Also, when the child's parents get back on their feet, the next Christmas, Santa can afford to bring only one or two toys, and the child wonders what she's done wrong."

Dennis Hewitt, director of PADS of Elgin Inc., concurred.

"We get a lot of attention during Christmas," said Hewitt, whose agency helps the homeless in Dundee, Elgin and Hanover townships. "It's physically impossible to use everything in that limited time period, especially food.

"While a person or organization may donate shoes, perhaps we have a man with size 8 feet who needs decent shoes for a job interview, but all we have are specifically donated size 10 shoes. Gift cards, used when needed, avoid this problem all year round."

Gift cards from big box stores, gas stations, and pharmacies are especially great gifts, said Lisa Sampson, resource development coordinator for the Community Crisis Center in Elgin, which helps victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and their families.

"The holiday season is the biggest giving time, but the needs of a parent or child obviously exist all year round," she said.

Gift cards are among the top needs at Mutual Ground in Aurora, which helps victims of physical and sexual abuse and has had to close some beds because of funding shortfalls.

"These women are often in a position where they had to quickly escape a dangerous situation, and had to leave their prescriptions or their children's prescription medications and their transportation means behind," said Linda Healy.

"Pharmacy gift cards provide the means to overcome this very real and year-long problem -- as well as do donated bus tokens so that existing jobs are not lost, or that job interviews can easily happen," she said. "And gift cards from food stores are always valuable, and allow purchases for food as needed as well as paper products; real needs such as toilet paper and diapers."

Hesed House in Aurora, which serves the homeless and poor in southern Kane and Kendall counties, houses about 250 people on average each night. Since space is at a premium, the flexibility of gift cards is attractive.

"As to donated items such as shoes, clothing, food, and others, Hesed House simply does not have the storage for it all, and the donated items often do not meet the needs of individuals," said Ryan Dowd, executive director.

"The beauty of gift cards is that they present no storage problems and they have the flexibility to provide what is precisely needed at all times throughout the year to assist people to achieve independence -- whether it be specific clothes for certain jobs or job interviews, or a child with a particular medical need."

Clothes are not accepted by McHenry County PADS, which helps homeless men, women and children. But meats -- such as turkeys and hams -- are welcome, especially since there is storage at the Day Center and the transitional shelter in Woodstock.

Gift cards can help fill the gap between the usual donations and the less-glamorous things people need.

"We do prefer gift cards so people can get what their needs are," said Debbie DeGraw, marketing and development director of McHenry PADS.

Lazarus House's Marcusson offered an example of a problem that many donators may not have considered: child-care costs.

"Child-care subsidies require that parents first have a job -- yet parents can't get the job without the child care, and it takes one to two months for child-care subsidies to come through," said Marcusson, whose agency helps the homeless, and also has transitional housing and outreach programs.

"This Catch-22 is especially hard on women who were abused, arrived here, and are in need to restart their lives -- and we have men, too, who have found themselves in this situation.

"A gift card, or a check specifically targeting its use on child-care services, bridges this otherwise insurmountable gap, achieves a solution, and is invaluable at getting parents back on their feet."

All agencies agreed that any type of donation or volunteerism is welcome.

"Volunteerism goes way up during the holiday season, and we hope to get volunteers to help out year round," Dowd said.

One way to help is to share a holiday meal, a gift of time and humanity to let people who are dealing with particularly hard times know that they are not forgotten.

How to help

The following nonprofit organizations accept gift cards -- and other donations -- during the holiday season and beyond. Check with them, though, since they might also have specific, urgent needs for donations or volunteers.

Lazarus House, St Charles: (630) 587-2144. Visit lazarushouseonline.com.

Elgin Public Action to Deliver Shelter: (847) 608-9744, or e-mail bmitchell@padsofelgin.org. Visit padsofelgin.org.

Community Crisis Center, Elgin: (847) 697-2380, or www.crisiscenter.org.

Hesed House, Aurora: Barb Phurlby, (630) 897-2156 or e-mail bphurlby@hesedhouse.org. Visit hesedhouse.org.

Mutual Ground, Aurora: (630) 897-0080, or e-mail mutual-ground@ameritech.net Visit mutualgroundinc.com.

McHenry Public Action to Deliver Shelter:

Debbie DeGraw at (815) 338-5231, ext. 13. Visit mchenrycountypads.com.