Salvation Army is asking people to donate less amid tariff dispute

The Salvation Army is offering donors a 25 per cent discount.

At a time of year when charities need donations, one of the country’s oldest and largest charities is doing something different.

The Salvation Army says they’re asking people for 25 per cent fewer donations.

The charity says it’s being done in response to the proposed 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods.

“We’re anticipating with the tariffs we’ll have more people than ever looking for assistance. But it also means our donors may be struggling a little more with increased costs for them,” says Major Pam Goodyear, the Salvation Army Atlantic division’s secretary for public relations. “The idea (is) rather than not donating, give us less if you need to. So, if someone would normally give us a $100 donation and they don’t feel they can do that, could they make a $75 donation?”

Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank in Halifax says they’ve seen a 25 per cent decrease in overall food donations.

“Especially with like canned meat and canned vegetables…we’re not able to put those things in our boxes because we just don’t have enough,” he says.

Rhoden says they serve up to 500 people a month, sometimes 100 people a day.

He says offering donors the chance to donate less is simply not an option for them.

“We’re already experiencing a reduction in food donations at this time of year. So unfortunately, we wouldn’t be able to do something like that,” he says.

Goodyear says the Salvation Army is seeing an increase in their services, too. She agrees giving people the option to donate less could impact their donations further.

“It would be concerning, obviously, for us if our donations drop off by 25 per cent, but hopefully then there would be other donors who would step up and say, ‘I can give, I can even give a little more,’” says Goodyear.