Duane Dreiling, director of the United Way of the Flint Hills said today he misspoke earlier this month when he said that the new reduced level of United Way support for The Learning Connection would still represent about 63 percent of that agency’s budget. He made that statement in a Gazette story on May 3.
The 63 percent figure was questioned by supporters of The Learning Connection, which is now trying to raise money to replace some of the money previously provided by the United Way.
Dreiling said today that he had reviewed his figures and discovered that the 63 percent would have been correct only if United Way had funded The Learning Connection at the level the agency originally requested.
He said that the amount finally approved by the United Way will amount to just 31.6 percent of the agency’s budget.
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
Does this surprise anyone? What other figures do they have wrong? What kind of raises did the head honchos get?
May 11, 2007 at 9:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barbara61 (anonymous) says...
It doesnt surprise me, Most of these charities are corrupt anymore. To much money always coming up missing.
May 18, 2007 at 3:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
I submitted the entry below to The People Speak on Monday, May 14, but it was too long to run in that format (300 words max). Pat said he could run it as an OpEd, but didn't have room for it this week. With our deadline for the summer catalog this coming Monday, I wanted to try to clarify some things.
I want to make it 100% clear that I do not view the United Way as a villain, nor TLC as a victim. UW changed the way they allocated funds a couple of years ago, and for good reason. TLC tried to make a number of changes in order to fit the redefined UW priorities and thought we were doing a good job of that in a number of areas. People at UW feel that in some respects, we do meet their focus areas and in others we do not. Thus, they fund us for what they can, and do not for what they cannot. There are a lot of worthy organizations doing excellent work and not all of us can be funded fully. Anyway- longwinded as I am, I'm submitting the following to whoever cares to read it.
A short version, with just the plea for additional donations, will be in Saturday's The People Speak.
May 18, 2007 at 10:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
_Submitted to The People Speak_ on Monday, May 14, modified May 17 to include additional donations.
In the budget submitted to the United Way in January, The Learning Connection projected its expenses for 2007 to be (in round figures) $59,000. As stated in your article on May 10, The United Way allocation of $18,650 comprises 32% of that total.
By cutting back on a couple of planned programs, and by not giving our director the raise we had hoped we would be able to, we have trimmed our budget to (still round figures) $50,000. Therefore, UW will actually be funding 37% of our total budget this year.
This $50,000 will pay for: one full-time director, one half-time staff member, KS state sales tax for Farmers' Market sales, catalog expenses, class materials fees, expenses associated with our literacy programs, and operating expenses.
A significant amount of the work done by TLC is done by volunteers - board members work the Farmers' Market, and TLC class instructors all offer their time and expertise just for the fun of sharing with others. In addition, The Emporia Gazette provides ~$3000 in in-kind donations by printing the TLC catalog at a reduced rate, helping us to keep our costs low.
United Way funds the parts of our programs that address three of the five focus areas of UW (Helping Children and Youth Succeed, Promoting Self-Sufficiency, and Supporting Vulnerable and/or Aging Populations) to the obviously significant tune $18,650. We are immensely grateful for this support.
Between income from the Catalog Advertising ($6272), Farmers' Market ($8049), TLC class fees ($3150), and donations from local businesses and individuals ($3177), TLC generated $20,648 in 2006.
To make up for the deficit in our budget, we have been forced to increase the fees charged to the Farmers’ Market vendors. Assuming EFM sales similar to last year’s record year, this will generate an additional $1000.
We have had some discussion of increasing our class fees (currently $5/class/participant) but have not yet done so. We are concerned that an increase here would decrease participation, thus offsetting any gain. We’d rather have more people participating at a low cost than just a few at a higher cost.
We are actively seeking support from other organizations that may be willing to support the quality-of-life programming that we offer to the public. It is, however, difficult to find the time necessary to seek out funding sources and completing applications, and still effectively run our operations.
May 18, 2007 at 10:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
traceygraham (Tracey Graham) says...
The final installment of my The People Speak letter of 5/14, modified 5/17: If you've read this far, I thank you for your patience!!!
We are now seeking additional support from the community. Much of what we do (e.g. the Farmers’ Market and many of our Community Classes) does not address the UW focus areas and is not fundable by UW. We believe that these efforts do provide value to the community as a whole and we are asking that the community help to support them.
Heartfelt thanks go out to all of the wonderful people who have already answered TLC director Cheryl Patton's call for 150 supporters at @$25 each, in conjunction with the 25-year anniversary of the Farmers' Market and Emporia's 150th birthday.
The response thus far clearly demonstrates the importance of quality-of-life issues to the good people of Emporia and surrounding areas, who have thus far contributed $1838, in amounts ranging from $5 to $500, as of Thursday, May 17.
That said, we still have plenty of room for more on the 150x$25 list! The summer catalog deadline is approaching quickly! Send those checks to 702 Commercial St, Suite B-3! And Thank You!!!
Tracey Graham, Secretary
The Learning Connection Board of Directors
May 18, 2007 at 10:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mythoughts (anonymous) says...
Good job, Tracey. I wish the people who gave thousands for the Little Train could see the United Way in the same light.
May 18, 2007 at 1:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )