WINFIELD, W.Va. -- The Putnam County Homecoming is struggling to gain sponsorships from local businesses this year, causing organizers to worry about the event's future.

The homecoming, which will be entering its 81st year when festivities start on Sept. 12, is organized by the Putnam County Lions Club and is funded through advertising space sold in the homecoming program.

This year, with county schools already soliciting businesses for their own fundraisers, sponsorship money dropped to half of what it was last year, said George Woodrum, chairman of the homecoming organizing committee.

"It's bad, the way we are competing against everyone for dollars," he said.

This year, the Lions Club sold around $6,000 in advertising space for the homecoming -- down from about $12,000 that they sold last year, Woodrum said.

"Small businesses just can't put out this year," he said. "They just don't have the money."

Woodrum said that by the time the Lions Club can ask businesses to buy ad space for homecoming, school fundraisers, like band and football boosters, have gotten to them first.

The Lions Club uses the money left over from the homecoming to buy eyeglasses for low-income Putnam County families. Woodrum said that while all the Lions Clubs in the county chip in with their own fundraisers for the program, the homecoming brings in most of the money.

After printing costs for advertising, and other expenses to make the homecoming take place, Woodrum expects the Lions Club to have $600 to $700 left over for eyeglasses.

"With that, and a lot of luck, we can get about five pairs of glasses," he said. Because federal law prohibits collecting and recycling used eyeglasses for charity in the United States, the glasses for the program must be bought new, he said.

Woodrum said that last year, with the help of the state Lions Club Foundation, the county club helped buy a prosthetic eye for one child. This week, the club arranged to buy a pair of glasses for a girl at Winfield Middle School.

"If we weren't here, there'd be a lot of Putnam Countians around that can't see," he said.

He said that 222 Lions Clubs around the state also fundraise for the eyeglasses program through various methods. If the homecoming were to be discontinued, the Putnam clubs would still find a way to raise money -- but it would be far less.

Aside from ads sold in the homecoming program, the Lions Club holds a dance the night before the event. A few years ago, 200 to 300 people would show up. Last year, he said only about 50 or 75 people were there.

Woodrum said the competition for Miss Putnam County, in which girls from the four high schools compete for the county homecoming crown, has also seen a drop in attendance.

"There used to be 200 kids from their schools, cheering on their girl," he said. "The last couple of years it's died off."

The Putnam County Homecoming starts at 10 a.m. Sept. 12. A gospel sing will be held in the morning, followed by the parade at 1 p.m., featuring bands from the county's schools. The parade starts at Winfield Middle School and ends at Winfield Elementary School.

Reach Zac Taylor at Zachary.Tay...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.