Christmas economy impacts,Salvation Army donations

MID-HUDSON – The continued weak economy is taking its toll on the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Christmas Collections in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Donations are down in the Newburgh and Poughkeepsie areas, but up in Kingston, officials said Monday.

Capt. Rohan Gage of the Newburgh Salvation Army chalks up their decline to the economy.

“With the economy and bad times, people aren’t doing as well as they were doing last year, so everything is down this year,” he said.

In Poughkeepsie, Lt. Dwayne Barnes, said his unit was impacted by a shortage of volunteers.

‘In terms of volunteers, we do solicit a lot of help to cover our kettle locations and this year we didn’t have as many as last year,” he said. “Certainly, it has a lot to do with the economy and people not giving as they generally would.”

Poughkeepsie’s kettle collections are down almost 50 percent, Barnes said.

That’s not the same picture in Kingston. Salvation Army Capt. William Geracia said the numbers are up.

“We’ve had more people out, more volunteers, especially new volunteers this year, and just overall, better coverage this year than in previous years.”

The officials of the Newburgh and Poughkeepsie branches acknowledge that they won’t hit their projected targets, but hope to raise more money before Christmas so that they can help more “adopted families” this year.

(source:midhudsonnews.com)

Christmas Shoppers Crowd Stores Last Weekend

The last weekend before Christmas is one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year as people headed out to grab those last minute gifts. Many shoppers were met with big crowds, and in some cases, big sales.

J.C. Penny Supervisor Duane McConnell says, "Last minute it's pretty much whatever's left on the table and as I said the MIP'S, Men In Panic come in here and they just need to go home with something."

But not all shoppers were in panic mode. There were plenty of gifts to choose from, and a lot of it was on sale. Some say they wait till the last minute on purpose.

Shopper Ann Reed says, "I kind of save it up for the week before so I have all week to finish up so I have no pressure no problem."

And at Kmart, some shoppers were just looking for bargains.

One shopper says, "We started back in June my wife and I started in June and we're just out looking for a deal, last minute markdowns."

Over at Target, last minute shoppers were greeted by long lines and busy aisles.

Shopper Miles Eason says, "100 percent doing last minute shopping. I put it off to the last minute and now I have no idea what to get of anyone in my family."

Target says last minute shoppers help make this one of the biggest sales weekends of the year. And while shoppers searched for gifts they say they brought along plenty of patience.

One shopper says, "It's been really hectic trying to get everything done the traffic, but the people have been real nice and everything so it's been great."

And with the stress of trying to find that perfect gift, retailers say their goal is to make the shopping experience as easy as they can.

McConnell says, "There are so many customers in here that we just really try to take care and touch base with each and every one and really try to make it like they're visiting someone's home."

Experts say the final ten days leading up to Christmas account for nearly one-third of total sales for the holiday season.

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