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The Johnson County Christmas Bureau is experiencing a significant gap between rising demand and declining donations this holiday season.
The bureau is facing a $30,000 funding shortfall, along with 20,000 fewer canned goods and 1,000 fewer boxes of cereal donated compared to last year.
Despite the reduced resources, the organization is serving 13,000 individuals across 4,000 families.
Executive Director Nina Kimbrough Johnson said the demand was so high the bureau had to stop accepting applications to avoid overcommitting limited resources.
"We had to stop taking applications,” she said. ”We would have been way over 14,000 individuals. We would have been way over 4,000 families. We knew that we weren't going to be able to provide all of those families with the things that we needed."
The shortfall may be attributed to donation fatigue, as many community members contributed food and supplies during the recent government shutdown just weeks ago.
For families who utilize the bureau's holiday shop, the assistance provides crucial financial relief during challenging economic times.
"Economically, it helps us … save a little bit of money that can go toward bills and rent and whatnot," said shopper Yissuri Bravo. "I mean, they're helping out, like, hundreds of families."
The bureau urgently needs donations of canned goods, cereal, peanut butter, ski gloves, boys' shoes and footballs. The holiday shop is located at 6496 Quivira Road in Shawnee, Kansas, next to Sky Zone.
Donations will be accepted through Saturday, Dec. 13.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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