INFOBOX: United Way by the numbers
Money raised
Community donations: $303,068
United Way donation: $100,000
Total raised as of Wednesday: $403,068
Money spent
18 Projects completed: $47,448
23 Projects under construction: $132,738
36 Additional projects under consideration: unknown
90 Families assisted with gift cards: $9,880
17 Families assisted with POD rentals: $4,731
2 Schools assisted: $2,218
Warehouse and distribution center supplies: $666
Openness and transparency in dealing with money is something the United Way of Russell and Washington Counties wants to stress as it continues to help post-tornado rebuilding efforts, the agency’s leaders said.
“I wanted to share that United Way and the Washington County Long-Term Recovery Group wanted to be open with the money we’ve raised,” Travis Staton, United Way’s chief executive officer, said Thursday morning as the group released details of its financial situation.
As of Wednesday, the group had raised $403,068, according to a community progress report the United Way published Thursday.
A quarter of that is United Way funding put into the pot to help with recovery efforts, but more than $300,000 is from community donations and benefits such as concerts and festivals held weekends during the past two months to raise money, Staton said.
United Way got another $74,000 boost Thursday, when Food City presented a check for $47,000 raised from donations at its registers in the region, and Berry Home Center contributed $30,000, Staton said.
Additionally, a T-shirt sale, which launches today in the Bristol Mall and in area Food City stores, is expected to bring in another $25,000, he said. The T-shirts sport messages of support, such as “fashion for relief” for the recovery efforts.
“They are on sale until they sell out, but they won’t last long,” Staton said of the shirts. “A hundred got sold before the word got out Tuesday.”
Staton said everybody pitching in – from consumers, to citizens to businesses – has helped the United Way stretch its budget to help as many people as it has.
Eighteen construction projects have been completed, and 23 are under way, Staton said. Another 18 are on the docket, waiting for volunteers to contribute labor, and Staton said this week he learned of another nine homes the United Way will likely take on. About 90 families have been assisted with gift cards, he said, and 17 families got POD temporary storage – United Way put up the $4,730 to rent those units.
“Half the money we’ve raised has been spent,” Staton said. “I’m proud. I don’t know another agency in the region that can say we have 23 homes we’re building.”
He said volunteers are still calling daily to see how they can help, and people have organized events and concerts and donated money to United Way.
“We are stretched so thin right now,” he said. “It’s nice to have folks that reach out and do fundraisers to help you.”
arobinson@bristolnews.com
(275) 645-2531
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