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Just over two weeks remain in the annual United Way campaign and the local non-profit
finds itself scrambling to reach its ambitious goal of raising $775,000 to support local social services in 2006.
Pledges totaling 54 percent of that amount have been received in the United Way office. Projections for workplace
campaigns still being conducted or yet to report take the estimated 2005 campaign tally to $710,000.
If the $65,000 gap between the projected results and the campaign goal does not close, funding cuts will have
to be made among United Way’s 25 Member Agencies. The projected shortfall comes during a time of growth in
Union County, and many United Way agencies are already being stretched to the limit to provide services to the
increasing number of people accessing them.
“United Way programs have been there to help people through hard times for the last 46 years,” said Dave Bezusko, Campaign and PR Director
for the United Way of Union County. “This year, we need someone to help United Way out of a hard spot.”
Citing the fact that Union County’s population continues to increase, Bezusko lamented the fact that the growth
of giving had not yet caught up to the growth of the need among United Way agencies. Between July and September
alone, The Salvation Army assisted 304 families to maintain their housing, providing rent, utility assistance, and
budget management. Since June, the Union County Cancer Society has cut in half the amount
it can provide for reimbursement to cancer patients for various services. The most extreme case of need is at the
Union
County Personal Needs Pantry, where usage ballooned to nearly 500 families
served in October, up from an average of 400 a month at the start of 2005. The pantry has run out of money for
the year and plans to close its doors in December before reopening in January.
“Another one of our Member Agencies sold its van to pay the heating bill from last winter,” Bezusko added. “Robbing
Peter to pay Paul, they now have no transportation. In two-thirds of those households assisted by Salvation Army
over the summer, there is a person working. These people our agencies serve are not deadbeats. They’re honest,
hard-working folks who have fallen upon hard times. Most of these families include children. Or they’re senior
citizens on fixed incomes. But the bottom line is that they don’t bring home enough to make ends meet.
“I think a lot of people think we’re crying wolf when we say the sky is falling for some of these social services,”
he said. “But the fact of the matter is that it is. Many of these agencies operate hand-to-mouth, year-to-year
with United Way funding. We haven’t made goal for three years. That goal is not just a fancy number. It’s an actual
amount that’s needed to keep these places up and running. Money is starting to run dry and we’re seeing the effects
when one of our agencies has to close its doors.”
If United Way doesn’t make its goal this year, it won’t be because of a lack of generosity or a lack of trying.
Giving is up at 19 of the 25 workplaces that have reported where employees give via payroll deduction. Associate
giving to United Way of Union County was at an all-time high at Honda
of America, where $160,122 was pledged and matched by a $80,061 corporate
gift. Record levels of giving have been reported at Nestle
R&D, Memorial
Hospital of Union County, Marysville
Schools, Honda Transmission, Fairbanks Schools, the Union County Engineer’s Office, the Board of MR/DD, National City Bank, Select Sires, Sky Bank,
and the City of Marysville,
where volunteers worked hard to spread the United Way’s message.
But Bezusko says those gains have been countered by large, unanticipated decreases in giving at a handful of supporters
and competing charitable interests stemming from Hurricane Katrina relief, which diverted money and attention away
from local needs at the start of the campaign.
“If this were a football game, I’d tell you we’re down by two touchdowns at the two-minute warning,” Bezusko said.
“It doesn’t look good on the scoreboard right now. But there are more than 30 workplace campaigns yet to report.
We have about a dozen new businesses working on campaigns for the first time. And there’s always hope that a $50,000
check will fall from the sky. As long as there’s time on the clock, we’re going to keep working and see
if we can’t recover an onside kick. Or score a really big check.”
FAST FACTS ABOUT THE 2005 UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN:
- United Way raised $740,805 during the 2004 campaign.
- The money raised by United Way stays in the local community to support its Member
Agencies, unless designated elsewhere by individual donors.
- United Way’s funding decisions are recommended by a committee of volunteers comprised
of local donors. These volunteers review funding requests, visit each Member Agency, and determine how to allocate
the undesignated funds of each campaign. The United Way’s volunteer Board of Trustees votes to approve these recommendations
in January.
- United Way’s administrative and fundraising percentage is 14%. The Better Business
Bureau of Central Ohio’s Standards of Charitable Accountability state that percentage should not exceed 35%.
- Businesses interested in making tax-deductible corporate gifts to extending the
giving opportunity to their employees by conducting a workplace campaign can contact United Way at (937) 644-8381
for more information. Individuals can invest in the United Way campaign by pledging online, by sending a check to United
Way of Union County, P.O. Box 145, Marysville, OH, 43040, or by calling (937) 644-8381 for more information.
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