The Canada Post strike has impacted the fundraising efforts of 性视界传媒-area charities at a key time of year.
Mail delivery in Canada was halted Friday, Nov. 15, the same day launched a year-end fundraising campaign called .
A week later (Friday, Nov. 22), operators of the 性视界传媒-based youth social house asked supporters to consider going online to give their financial "gift" to the organization during the Canada Post strike.
"Every year, a large portion of our November and December revenue comes to us via mail, making Canada Post a vital part of our fundraising efforts," the organization said in an "urgent" e-newsletter.
"If you prefer to give by cheque, simply reply to this email and we would be happy to arrange to pickup a cheque from you personally," the email adds.
Operators of are seeing a dip in cash donations now that mail delivery has stopped, according to Vijay Naidu, manager of communications and community partnerships.
"Many of our donors are older people who prefer to send money by mail, not online," he noted.
Over the past two years, fundraising fuelled the February opening of the Mackie's Place bistro and headquarters on 104 Avenue and 139 Street in Whalley, where young people gather, learn restaurant skills and enjoy food and beverages for free. The coffee shop is open for drop-in and meal service on Monday and Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m.
"Our goal is to open seven days a week," said charity co-founder Bobbi-Rhea Mackie at the time. "It鈥檚 all due to funding, because we鈥檙e a privately-funded organization鈥�. We started with a budget of $7,000 seven years ago and our budget is now $1.5 million.鈥�
In October, Tresha Iype was introduced as executive director of Mackie's Place, following Mackie's resignation from the position at the end of June.
Such charities and small businesses count on Canada Post during the busy holiday season.
In Vancouver, Nicole Mucci, spokesperson for Union Gospel Mission in the Downtown Eastside, said 50 per cent of the organization鈥檚 revenue normally comes between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a mail strike at this time of the year is 鈥渄etrimental鈥� since so many donations come in the mail.
Mucci said the Mission supports the postal workers鈥� fight and hopes there will be a resolution soon, and in the meantime they are exploring other ways to connect with donors.
鈥淥ur team is having to revisit how they鈥檙e going to send out certain things or how they鈥檙e going to connect with our donors, just because we do send out quite a bit of mail at this time of year,鈥� Mucci said.
Workers at Canada Post went on strike Nov. 15 after failing to reach a negotiated agreement with their employer. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers said approximately 55,000 workers are striking.
- with files from the Canadian Press
