With volunteers busy rallying UBC faculty, staff and students for this year’s
United Way Campaign across campus, organizers want to remind people of the benefits
that their donations bring to their community.
“We are thankful for support of our effort and together we will make possible
the day when future generations will be free of the fear of cancer,” says Jane
Hungerford, chair of the B.C. Cancer Foundation.
“We see support for the purchase of food and the maintenance of our operations
as the key element in combating hunger,” says Pat Burns, executive director
of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society.
It’s that type of feedback that makes the efforts of the UBC campaign team
— comprised of more than 200 volunteers — worthwhile, says 1999 UBC United
Way Campaign Chair Eilis Courtney.
With as many as 104 local agencies and 32 affiliates receiving some form of
funding from the campaign, the money raised from Oct. 18-29 will go towards
supporting a vast array of services and programs throughout the Lower Mainland.
The United Way is one of the best ways people can give to charities and community
organizations, says Courtney.
She points out that the Lower Mainland’s United Way organization has one of
the lowest fund-raising costs in Canada due to conservative fiscal management
and the foresight of local volunteers who established an endowment fund for
the United Way more than 50 years ago.
On average, it costs United Way 12 cents to raise each dollar. But with the
interest generated by the endowment fund covering five of the 12 cents, member
agencies receive 93 cents from each dollar raised.
United Way also receives donated advertising time and space from radio, television
and news organizations, saving costs associated with promoting the campaign.
One in three people in the Lower Mainland have used the services of a United
Way member agency or service and all of the money raised in the Lower Mainland
remains within the area.
People interested in volunteering for this year’s UBC United Way campaign
can still do so by contacting the campaign office at 604-822-8929. For information
on this year’s drive, visit the Web site at www.unitedway.ubc.ca.
