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From housing and healthy meals offered five days a week to social services, Miriam’s Kitchen in D.C. provides help to people experiencing food insecurity and homelessness.
But there’s concern, according to Miriam’s Kitchen CEO Scott Schenkelberg, that a dip in private giving — evident in the final quarter of 2024 — could worsen with layoffs of federal government workers and federal contractors.
“At the end of last calendar year, our overall giving totals were about $400,000 lower than the previous calendar year,” Schenkelberg told WTOP.
He pointed out that was well before “the current executive actions that are taking place.”
Asked if the drop in monetary donations in 2024 could be due in part to the change in presidential administrations — with a likely drop in giving as a normal part of the transition process that happens every four years — Schenkelberg said, “No, this is different. I’ve been at Miriam’s for over 20 years and working in the D.C. area for about 30, and I’ve not noticed any change in giving associated with change in administration. So, it seems unusual to me.”
The worry is that half of Miriam’s Kitchen budget comes from private charitable sources, and about half of that comes from individual giving.
Schenkelberg said that with all of the recent terminations in federal government, there are worries that individual giving will drop as newly laid-off federal workers and contractors find they have to figure out how to pay their own bills.
The D.C. region has weathered economic dips and longer downturns in the past, but right now, Schenkelberg said, “There’s a lot of anxiety about what’s happening.”
Even for those who are confident they have savings that can bridge the gap between a layoff and their next job, Schenkelberg said the uncertainty that’s been generated by the wide-scale firings can generate a ripple effect throughout the local economy.
Miriam’s Kitchen serves about 10,000 people a year across all its programs.
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