It was only midday, but there was no more cash to give out to those needing financial assistance from North Fulton Community Charities. Like anyone who has to stretch a paycheck as far as it can go, then wait until the next check comes in, lately the well-regarded nonprofit has been dependent on that day’s mail and whatever donor checks it brings.

But NFCC’s executive director, Barbara Duffy, emphasized that exceptionally tight cash flow doesn’t mean the charity will stop giving help or have to close its doors.

“That’s just been the situation this week,” she said last week of the daily cash deficit. “Historically, donations are down in the summer. But we have a golf tournament next week that we hope will bring in enough to tide us over for awhile.”

Though the economic maelstrom that began two years ago has hit local nonprofits hard, some seem to be managing to weather the storm, but just barely.

Despite the bad economic climate, “community donations have held strong, because I think people are aware this is just basic assistance that we give. It’s the difference for people in being evicted, foreclosed on or having enough food on the table,” Duffy said.

The NFCC’s food pantry is constantly being depleted, she said. “We struggle with keeping food on our shelves. That’s always an issue, because we service well over 100 families a day.”

Grants that the organization received last year are not available this year, which makes fundraising even more critical. Rachel Ewald, founder of Roswell-based Foster Care Foundation, is finding herself in that same boat.

“The grants we aren’t getting aren’t a big amount of money, but with an annual budget of less than $400,000, every little bit counts,” Ewald said.

“Right now, with the economic times the way they are, a lot more children are in the foster care system due to abusive or neglectful situations at home. Some of that is due to the economy. Parents are stressed out, and stress overload often leads to those conditions.”

At the Child Development Association in Roswell, Executive Director Donna Smythe said the impact of the economy on their organization has been “a mixed picture.” CDA provides affordable childcare and early learning programs for preschool children of low-income families, and Smythe said the nonprofit began feeling the effects of the recession as early as 2008.

“We saw it in our client families’ employment. They’re hardworking people, often with more than one job, but suddenly it became rocky for them,” she said.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount of belt-tightening, closing a classroom and consolidating others. And allowed attrition to thin the ranks of our teachers,” she said.

Their funding from the county has held up, but donors have kept closer watch on their wallets in the last three years, Smythe said. “We have had to sweat bullets this year and work really, really hard. Our clients need us more, but the donor situation is still tight.”

All three charities will be the beneficiaries of a special fundraising evening starring Jeff Foxworthy at North Point Community Church Oct. 28.