Headline: United Way of St. Joseph County Announces Annual Campaign Total

South Bend, IN-With the impact of the economic recession, many businesses faced financial challenges throughout 2010. Simultaneously, human needs continued to rise and not-for-profit community organizations now face impending federal, state and local budget cuts. As the local organization tasked with connecting people in need with available resources, United Way of St. Joseph County (UWSJC) is a critical community partner.

Greg Downes, Vice Chair of the Board for United Way of St. Joseph County, and 2010-2011 Campaign Chair stated, “With the close of the 2010-11 United Way Annual Campaign, we are announcing total donations raised and pledges made to date of $3,032,615. Contributions were received from over 300 workforce campaigns, hundreds of individual donors, and several private and public foundations. Although we were short of our stated goal of $3.35 million this year, we are pleased to note that, during the past 10 years, philanthropic investments to United Way have contributed nearly $37,000,000 in St. Joseph County.”

Downes continued, noting the community impact of United Way contributions for residents of St. Joseph County. “98.5 cents of every donated dollar remained in our community this past year, providing essential programs and services to nearly 80,000 children, women and men.”

UWSJC applied for and received a $370,000 Grant from the Indiana Association of United Ways for the 2010-11 fundraising campaign. New and increased United Way donations helped leverage this matching grant, part of which will be used for education-related purposes. Vice President for Community Investment, Karen Sommers, noted the following community investments approved by United Way’s Board of Directors resulting from the grant:

$40,000 to pay tuition for at-risk Latino kindergarten children at El Campito, one of United Way Partner Agencies.

$40,000 to pay tuition for African American kindergarten students from low-income families, also through El Campito pre-school services.

$95,000 to support the South Bend Career Academy, a career-focused and project-based learning curriculum for public middle and high school. Open this fall, the Academy will serve 300 students in grades 7-9, adding a grade annually with the goal of 600 students in grades 7-12. The first class is scheduled to graduate in 2015. The Academy will support local employers by providing a prepared and highly skilled workforce and support local families/students by providing education, training and life skills for high-quality jobs in our local community.

Sommers indicated that these investments are a continuation of previous education-related grants facilitated through United Way to be used for South Bend School’s New Tech High School and Early College. “It is consistent with United Way’s mission to address the achievement gap and high school graduation rate in our community. We’re pleased that so many generous donations to United Way, also leveraged through a previous grant from the Indiana Association of United Ways, continue to make such opportunities possible.”

In its ongoing commitment to accountability, President/CEO Kay Ball commented that United Way maintained below industry average administrative (8.9%) and fundraising expenses (9.3%) during the 2010 campaign for a total of 18.2% (35% is traditionally used as a benchmark). “The United Way Board of Directors carefully monitors the relationship between internal expenses and community impact investments. We are committed to diversifying and expanding our revenue streams as we continue to invest in effective community programs and services that address the Education, Income and Health agenda.”

Businesses, individuals and foundations interested in contributing should contact Phil Gray, Vice President of Development at (574) 232-8201, ext. 231 or PGray@uwsjc.org.

United Way of St. Joseph County is a non-profit organization that improves lives of people who live and work in the county. Its mission is to create long-lasting change by mobilizing the caring power of community. United Way assesses community’s health and human services needs, investing in effective programs/services with measurable outcomes. It promotes immediate solutions for urgent problems and addresses root causes of problems with long-lasting results that inspire hope.

Contact Person:  Brenda HarleyCompany Name:  United Way of St. Joseph CountyTelephone Number:  574-232-8201, ext. 253Email Address:  bharley@uwsjc.org; Website Address:  www.uwsjc.org