By By BILL CRIST – Publisher
Most people would love the opportunity to spend $90,000. On Tuesday, the board of directors of the United Way of Brewton and East Brewton voted to do just that, agreeing to split $90,442 between the 14 agencies it helps to fund.
With a campaign goal of $80,000 this year, board members were very happy to learn the campaign had exceeded it by such a large margin.
Manning said that both individual contributors and many area businesses and industries helped make this year's campaign a success.
Agencies receiving funds from the United Way will be receiving a letter in the coming weeks telling them how much their allocation will be this year. The first checks will be mailed out in May, representing approximately 75 percent of the allocation. According to Manning, the remainder will be mailed in August, after all pledges have been collected.
Until 2002, the local United Way board had seen a decrease in donations, while requests for funding continued to climb. In 1997, $82,000 was paid out to 13 agencies. Two years later, that figure had fallen to $50,000 donated before dropping all the way to $45,795 in 2000.
With a new board in place shortly before the 2002 campaign kicked off, a good deal of work was done to encourage payroll deductions through major employers in the Brewton area. For 2002, over $70,000 was raised locally and distributed to the 13 agencies. This year, two agencies were added, while one was dropped, bringing the total number of groups receiving funds from United Way to 14.
The agencies that will be receiving funds this year are the American Red Cross-East Escambia County chapter, Brewton Parks and Recreation Dept., Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Brewton Area YMCA, Southwest Alabama Mental Health and Mental Retardation, East Brewton Youth Sports, Disabled Children and Adults-Brewton chapter, Salvation Army, Escambia County 4-H, Escambia County Library Co-op, Brewton Public Library and Christian Community Benevolent Fund.
Agencies that wish to submit requests for funding for the calendar year 2004 are encouraged to send their request, listing specific projects to be undertaken with the funds, to P.O. Box 34, Brewton, AL 36427.