Dealing with a shortfall of $200,000, the United Way tightened its belt as money was allocated to their funded agencies.
Tony Walsh, the board president for the United Way of Chatham-Kent, said, “it was a tough year
“We are grateful for the folks in C-K that donated. We have a lot of folks in need of the funded agencies and not a lot of people that are able to give,” he said.
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The United Way board of directors approved $753,250 for 18 funded agencies. Walsh added with combined fundraising and administration costs representing about 20% of the overall fundraising campaign total of $1,850,000, the balance of funds were earmarked for United Way programs focused on poverty reduction, youth engagement and community building initiatives.
“The dollar amount that was raised this year is still a lot of money and it will be able to do a lot of good,” Walsh said.
In the past the board set aside funds to help in the case of a campaign shortfall, Walsh said. Some funds were drawn out of this reserve this year to make up the difference between what agencies received last year, what they requested this year and what the fundraising achieved.
“If this is going to become a trend, we need to prepare for that,” Walsh said. “This year we utilized some of our reserves and met halfway.”
The funded agencies received the following allocations:
AIDS Support Chatham-Kent, $34,350
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Chatham-Kent, $92,600
New Beginnings, ABI and Stroke Recovery Association, $31,350
C.N.I.B., $40,000
Canadian Hearing Society, $24,350
Canadian Mental Health Association, $29,350
Chatham-Kent Block Parent Program Inc., $29,600
Chatham-Kent Family YMCA, $19,350
Chatham-Kent Student Nutrition Program, $29,150
Chatham-Kent Children’s Services, $37,350
Epilepsy Support Centre, $16,000
Family Service Kent, $122,350
Learning Disabilities Association, $89,350
Restorative Justice Chatham-Kent, $26,525
Sidestreets Youth Drop-In Centre, $27,625
The Solid Rock Café Youth Centre, $39,600
VON Chatham-Kent, $64,350
The United Way of Chatham-Kent also has $60,000 worth of community impact grants available. The grants are intended for not-for-profits to respond quickly and creatively to pressing human needs.
The applications are available at all three United Way locations in Chatham, Tilbury and Wallaceburg.
