United Way serves 100K, despite budget shortfall

Despite raising a significant amount of money last year, the United Way of Madison County will not be able to support 6,000 individuals this year.

Chief Professional Officer Steven Kirkpatrick said United Way of Madison County raised $5,940,945 as a result of last year’s April 27 tornadoes, but experienced a shortfall due to the “general economy and unprecedented damage.”

The original shortfall amount was $8,500, but United Way held the $20 by 20 a fundraiser this past April to raise more funds. In all, that fundraiser brought in $2,500.

“For this year, we’re going to have to live within what we’ve got,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re suffering the same as everyone. We’re tightening our belt and reducing benefits. This year we have to absorb that reduction.

It’s unfortunate that we can’t serve that 6,000, but we were still able to serve 102,000 people, so that’s certainly not insignificant.”

Kirkpatrick said they are working on closing that gap next year.

“To those 6,000 people, this certainly will cause a great impact,” he said.

From the proceeds of the 2011 Community Wide Campaign, 27,500 individuals will be served through United Way’s collaborative partners and over 23,000 individuals will receive services through internal United Way programs.

Designations from Federal Employees in the Combined Federal Campaign provide services for an additional 19,000 individuals in Madison County. Designations to National and International charities provide services for an additional 32,000 individuals outside of our community.