United Way Says It Has Bounced Back

After two years of cutbacks, United Way of Orange County announced Tuesday there would be no reductions in its allocations to charitable agencies next year.

“We stopped the two-year downslide. There will be no cuts to agency budgets in 1988,” David W. Carroll, Pacific Bell vice president and general United Way campaign chairman, said at a news conference in Garden Grove. The campaign’s 1987 goal of $17.4 million in contributions most likely will be reached, Carroll said. As of Tuesday, $16.7 million had been pledged.

Carroll said the Los Angeles and Orange County United Way campaigns overlap, seeking contributions from some of the same employers, especially near the county line.

United Way of Orange County severed joint fund-raising projects with the Los Angeles group after a controversy over loans made to five employees of the Los Angeles agency in 1985.

The loan controversy has been blamed in part for the fact that United Way of Orange County fell $2.5 million short of its fund-raising goal in 1986. The shortfall caused a 10.5% reduction in allocations to agencies it supports during the first six months of this year.

The fund-raising goal for United Way of Orange County was $19 million in 1986, a figure that was cut to $17.4 million for 1987.

But this year’s success prompted Johnson to set a tentative goal of $32 million for 1992.

“We’ve emphasized a more human approach, to show where the donations go,” Carroll said.

United Way President Merritt L. Johnson added that one strategy, personal appeals to key individuals, paid off in the form of at least 20 individual donations of $10,000 each. About 175 people gave $1,000 each, he added.