MONETA -- Eight charities received checks for $15,000 each from the Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour at a check presentation luncheon Thursday.

Last year the checks were written for $20,000.

Overall "it was a good year in a year that could have been very, very bad," said tour organizer Mary Bowers, who had warned months ago that the current economic situation was going to have an effect on the event -- one of the most popular annual fundraisers in the region.

This year's reduced donation checks come at a time when leaders of several regional nonprofit organizations said the demand is much greater for the services they provide: medical care, housing and food for the needy.

Bowers said the $15,000 amounts per charity are nothing to be disappointed about in a year of lower sponsorship for the tour, decreased ticket sales and the worst economic circumstances she has seen in her 12 years with the tour.

The tour, which just wrapped up its 18th year, offers ticket holders an up close view of eight luxury lakefront homes over a three-day weekend.

In late July, Bowers said she anticipated the charities could see as much as a 15 percent reduction because corporate sponsorships were lagging. Sponsorships account for 50 percent to 60 percent of the final contribution, she said.

That, coupled with a drop in ticket sales, meant a smaller piece of the pie for this year's charities.

Ticket sales dropped from 2,300 last year to 1,800 for October's tour. Bowers partially attributed the decrease to high gasoline prices and a perceived fuel shortage that drove prices even higher about the time of the event.

About 10 percent of the $120,000 given to the charities came from the tour's banked savings.

"Hopefully you will be able to take the money you get today and multiply it like they did the loaves and the fishes to help many, many people," Bowers told the charity leaders.

The recipient charities for the 2008 tour were: Bedford Christian Ministries, Bedford Hospice House, Crisis Line of Central Virginia, Free Clinic of Central Virginia, Free Clinic of Franklin County, Lynchburg Daily Bread, Moneta Volunteer Fire Department and Roanoke Valley Interfaith Hospitality Network.

Karon Jones of the Free Clinic of Franklin County said for every dollar donated her organization can provide $5 worth of medical care.

Rosemary Pawlas of Bedford Christian Ministries said, "The biggest dilemma will be how far we stretch" the check. The organization operates a food pantry, assists with heating and utility bills, and provides clothing and linens.

John McDowell, of Roanoke Valley Interfaith Hospitality Network, said he hoped to use the funds to start a mentoring program for the families his organization serves. For now those plans have been deferred because the network is seeing more homeless families than usual and expenses are on the rise.

The organization will use about half of the home tour proceeds to fund security deposits for families moving into permanent housing. McDowell said his organization tries to help previously homeless families combat the double-whammy of paying out first month's rent plus a security deposit.

The current year's funding is not the only challenge McDowell faces. After two consecutive years of participating in the home tour, the Roanoke Valley Interfaith Hospitality Network must sit next year out, per the tour's regulations.

McDowell said he will be reaching out to the 30 congregations in the network for greater financial support and he plans to step up the network's annual fundraiser, Footsteps for Families: A Walk to End Family Homelessness.