“It’s pretty bleak.. pretty bleak,” at least that’s what we are being told by a number of car for charity donation centers around the west. For example here in Sun Valley California (the baking sun suits the name well), Riteway Charity Services says they are down 30% from this time last year. They take in thousands of cars a year with the money going to local food banks, charities, homeless shelters and even the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs. Basically they say the recession and the ‘Cash for Clunker’ program have put a serious dent into donations.

Owners Teresa Deutsch and her husband say, “People are very leery to donate their vehicle.. they are holding on to what they have… fixing the cars that they have and so the charities are really affected by that… It really hurt us.” They say charities which can offer a tax write off as little as $500 next spring are now competing with the Federal Government which is handing out up to 45-hundred dollars for the same car right now. For example Debbie Chang who is turning  her car into a nearby dealership as a “clunker” says, “In this tight economic time I thought I might as well get as much help as I can. So, yeah I have thought about donating but unfortunately I do need a vehicle for myself.”

By the way, repair shops and parts stores are also hurting as people now trade their cars into dealerships rather than get them fixed.