LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The holidays typically mark the time for giving.
It's also one of the busiest times of the year for many nonprofit organizations across Central Arkansas as they prepare to provide for an influx of people in need.
According to Little Rock Compassion Center Senior Pastor, William Holloway, this year has been slightly different when it comes to the amount of individuals they are expecting.
"We're seeing a lot more traffic and usually by Thanksgiving Day, we will be almost filled. That'll be between 200-250 people here for the night," Pastor Holloway described.
Their organization works to provide essentials for the holidays, which includes preparing up to 1200 meals per day or more as well as passing out over 500 coats.
Organizations like theirs also provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the day but there are a number of circumstances that have made it rather difficult this time around.
"We're seeing a low percentage of donations coming in this year. By this time last year, we probably had close to 300 turkeys, and we just have barely 150 this year," explained Melissa Caulder, the kitchen manager. "We can't find corn meal anywhere and that's what we need to make our dressing."
The Compassion Center isn't the only organization that has been impacted by these issues.
The Watershed Human Community Development Agency has served the Little Rock community for over 40 years.
Watershed Director of Employment, Fred Hokes, explained how the organization has been a cornerstone in the community in helping people during the holidays.
This year, in particular, the shelves at Watershed are slightly more scarce.
As they prepare to hand out holiday meal bags on Tuesday, they have faced a few issues.
Watershed officials shared how they have a little over 200 canned goods stocked in their pantry but that won't be enough to provide for over 400 people during the holidays.
A lack of donations, funding, and inflation are some of the key factors impacting their supply— showing that the same issues you could be dealing with in your home also impact nonprofits.
"When you're feeding 300, maybe 400 people at one meal, 10 pounds of potatoes don't go very far," described Pastor Williamson.
In spite of the issues, these nonprofits are asking for your help in efforts to provide meals and clothing for those in need.
"We need turkey. We need cranberry. We need gravy, the gravy fixings, which we'll make from giblets. We're gonna have green beans, we're gonna have corn, we're gonna have mashed potatoes and gravy and sweet potatoes," explained Caulder.
No matter what the circumstances are like, it has not stopped nonprofits from giving back to the community and assisting the homeless population here in the Natural State.
Watershed is set to provide 400 holiday meal bags on Tuesday and additional supplies during the coming weeks.
"When we provide food for the community, we [have to] provide enough food, not only for Thanksgiving, but we know that there are days after Thanksgiving with the kids home from school that they'll probably need to be fed too," said Hokes.