Glancing around the St. Vincent Catholic Charities Storage room, you'll find couches, beds, pots and pans even, but what you won't find are blankets.

"St. Vincent Catholic Charities is in great need of blankets for the homeless and refugees we serve also the foster children and children in the children's home," Julie Picot said. "Any kind of blankets, the warmer the better are what we need."

Picot said the charity is short the most basic donation, mostly because the need out there has greatly increased.

"We serve people that literally have nothing," Picot said. "The people coming to us only have the clothes on their backs."

All the while revenues have similarly decreased.

"We've definitely seen cuts from the government, city and state government," she said.

This holiday season charities are going to have to get pretty creative. The Salvation Army put credit card machines on some donation stands.

"We are trying the new credit card machine at the Meridian Mall so the people who only have credit cards can still donate," Brian Davis of the Salvation Army said. "The Muffler Man on Michigan Avenue has started a program where anyone getting an oil change, five dollars of that goes to the Salvation Army."

It's about making donating easier, Davis said, because this year, people will be less inclined to break out their check books.

"It's been challenging, I mean we aren't way behind last year, but we also know because of the increased need we will need to spend more so we will need to raise more also," Davis said.

A tough position for charities this holiday season, all of which are banking on your giving spirit.

*** To donate blankets to St. Vincent Catholic Charities, you can drop them off at the STVCC Campus located in North Lansing:

St. Vincent Catholic Charities
2800 W. Willow
Lansing, MI 48917

Or a pick up may be arranged by calling: 517-323-4734 Ext. 1050 leave a voicemail with your information.

*** To donate to the Salvation Army, you can drop some money or swipe your credit card, starting this Friday with the Salvation Army bell ringers.

Or you can donate personal need items at any local DART bank.