Shippensburg, Pa. - As we near the first Independence Day of the 'official' recession, some local governments are having trouble raising the funds to get their annual fireworks off the ground.

"It's extremely important for us to be able to celebrate the birth of our nation,” said Bruce Hockersmith, mayor of Shippensburg.

But in Shippensburg this year, no amount of red, white and blue would cut it - during tough times, they needed "green."

"I contacted some of the past contributors and found out they couldn't give as much as they had in the past,” said Hockersmith.

The borough needed to raise $5,000-$6,000 in order to pull off its annual fireworks display and celebration, and donations weren't the only obstacle.

"To compound this was the increase in the price of the fireworks over the last year,” said Hockersmith, who said the cost of fireworks doubled this year.

Hockersmith appealed to local businesses, and his parks and recreations manager even went door to door. They got about $700 in individual donations, plus $1,000 from Orrstown Bank, $2,000 from Sprint, and just this week, the local VFW finished it off, with a $2,500 pledge.

"There’s a song that goes, ‘Through all kinds of weather, what if the sky should fall? Just as long as we're together,’ and as Americans, that's important,” said Hockersmith.

Carlisle is also facing financial difficulties raising enough money for its fireworks show, which costs $25,000. The mayor says he's "optimistic" they will go off as planned this year, but will need to crunch some numbers over the next couple of days, before he'll know for sure.

Shippensburg’s fireworks celebration will take place at Memorial Park on July 4th.

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