Letter: United Way did not omit service providers from list

United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties would like to take this opportunity to clarify information in Mr. Cheshire’s Oct. 4 letter to the editor and state that we did not omit any funded service providers from our posted list.

It is important to us that our donors feel well-informed regarding the distribution of funds to our community. Like every other United Way, ours is autonomous and governed by a local board of directors.

United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties funds 28 programs through 17 agencies as part of our Community Solutions Investment. The complete list was included in our ad that Mr. Cheshire referred to. It includes Adult Day Services, American Red Cross, Head Start, Blue Mountain Council Boy Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs, Catholic Family & Child Services, Children’s Developmental Center, Columbia Industries, Grace Clinic, Ignite Youth Mentoring, Lourdes Counseling Center, People for People (2-1-1), Senior Life Resources, SARC, The Arc, The Chaplaincy, and the YMCA.

Donor-designated funds are separate from Community Solutions Investment Funding. Donors can designate their contributions to specific 501 (c) (3) organizations throughout the country. United Way is required, by law, to pass these designated donations on to the specified nonprofit organizations.

Kennewick

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Letter: United Way did not omit service providers from list."