United Way extends drive as donations lag

Triangle United Way, which supports dozens of area charities through workplace giving campaigns, is falling short of its annual target this year as the recession dampens public generosity.

The group expects to miss its $11.7 million goal by about $800,000. The shortfall comes as shelters, food banks and crisis centers experience crushing demand from people struggling with layoffs, evictions and foreclosures.

To win over more contributors, the United Way is extending its campaign for six weeks, through the end of the year. It's a strategy normally reserved for natural disasters and other emergencies.

United Way officials and board members are meeting with business leaders and pressing them to contribute and to set up workplace campaigns.

The agency depends on corporate support to raise money from workers through automatic payroll deductions. This fall, as layoffs swept the region, several companies dropped out of the program, while others are running campaigns but with smaller staff, said Craig Chancellor, president and CEO of Triangle United Way.

"It's a tough market," Chancellor said Thursday. "It's a tough message to ask people to give in this environment."

The United Way is seeking aid in the week when economists officially declared the nation has been in a recession for 11 months. On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department delivered the grim statistic: The number of people drawing unemployment benefits has reached a 26-year high.

Charities are hurting and asking the United Way to raise $3 million more than last year. But some people who might have spared $5 per paycheck are now jobless.

Waves of applicants

The first wave of help seekers came in the summer, when gasoline spiked to $4 a gallon and the prices of food and other staples soared. Another surge came last month, after companies began cutting staff en masse.

"We're seeing people who have never ever been to a food pantry in their lives," said Rick Miller-Haraway, regional director of Catholic Charities in Raleigh. "We've seen high-tech workers in RTP coming for food assistance. They were probably in the $60,000 to $70,000 [annual pay] range."

Catholic Charities has seen a 42 percent increase in people seeking food assistance. Last year the group received about $65,000 from United Way, roughly 6 percent of its budget, but this year is asking for about $95,000.

Urban Ministries of Wake County is asking for $30,000 more from United Way on top of its usual allocation, about $170,000, which is 10 percent of its annual budget. Executive Director Anne Burke said requests for food are up 83 percent in the past 18 months. The group's emergency pantry served 15,000 people last year and expects to serve more than 21,000 this year.

100-plus calls a day

"We're receiving more than 100 calls a day from people who've lost their jobs, don't have insurance and are desperate for health care," Burke said.

Triangle United Way currently has 804 companies signed up to run workplace giving campaigns, which generally enroll donors from September through mid-November. The group is trying to recruit smaller companies that traditionally have not participated and is reaching out to younger workers.

United Way officials say the Triangle has untapped reserves in philanthropy. Triangle United Way is supported by 7 percent of area workers, but that's only half the national average for United Way workplace giving.

Local United Way officials say workplace giving campaigns at some companies -- including Lenovo and John Deere -- are exceeding last year's totals.

Not since Katrina

Triangle United Way last fell below its fundraising goal in 2003, said spokesman R. J. Moshay. He said several United Ways around the country are extending their campaigns.

The last time Triangle United Way extended its campaign was in 2005, to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.