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COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Rappahannock United Way Awards Over $2.3 Million to Partner Agencies Rappahannock United Way announces new grants and distributions to its 35 partner agencies. A total of $1,533,104 will be distributed to Rappahannock United Way programs and partner agencies between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. Partner agencies provide critical health and human services to people who reside in the City of Fredericksburg, and the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford. Next year’s grants to United Way partner agencies represent a 7.6% increase over current year funding. By comparison community donations to the 2007 Rappahannock United Way Campaign increased 4.7%. Grants and distributions to the 35 partner agencies range from $5,000 to $116,489. Of the $1,533,104 awarded, 66% is money from Rappahannock United Way’s Community Care Fund and 34% is money contributors designated to specific agencies. The Community Care Fund is comprised of money individuals give directly to United Way to support a variety of community services that address critical human needs. Money donated to the Community Care Fund only supports local programs in Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties. Deciding which agencies and programs to fund is the job of Citizen Review volunteers. This year 65 community volunteers served on nine Citizen Review panels. These panels evaluate the performance and financial health of partner agencies. The observations and recommendations these volunteers make strongly influence the final grants decision. “The United Way Board of Directors has a lot of confidence in the work these volunteers perform. We rarely change a panel recommendation because the volunteers are so thorough, said United Way board member Bill Young. Maria Franklin, a volunteer who works for Union Bank & Trust, chaired the 2008 Citizen Review process. “Every program we considered had merit. There were difficult funding choices to make,” said Ms. Franklin. Marilyn Stevens is the new executive director of S.E.R.V.E. It was Ms. Stevens’ first time through the Citizen Review process. “We appreciate all of the goodwill United Way has shown to us. We will do our very best to make good use of the funds that United Way allocated to S.E.R.V.E.“ Citizen Review volunteers, in addition to recommending the grant amounts, also give the agencies ideas and suggestion they believe will benefit the agency. “Our goal at United Way is to do everything we can to help our partner agencies meet the community's critical human needs” said Stephen Batsche, United Way president. The Rappahannock United Way Board of Directors gave its final approval to the 2008-2009 agency allocations at its May 29th business meeting. Agencies were informed the following week of their allocation amount. Each Citizen Review volunteer contributed an average of 12 hours, which amounted to 780 volunteer hours spent evaluating agency applications. The dollar value per hour for a volunteer in Virginia is $19.72 as calculated by the Virginia Employment Commission and the Independent Sector. Thus, volunteer efforts combined are valued at $15,382. The mission of Rappahannock United Way is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community. This mission is accomplished in part by investing money in local health and human services that make a difference in peoples’ lives.
Click Here to View Full List of 2008 Funding Allocations
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