United Way Drive Off to Good Start

Just one month into Ventura County’s United Way campaign, donations are double what they were a year ago, boosting leaders’ hopes that the charity will reach its $5.35-million goal.

“We’re off to a reasonably good start,” said campaign chairman John Katch “It’s always nice to be ahead.”

Since the campaign kicked off Sept. 10, the United Way has raised $300,608, or 6% of its goal. During the same period last year, the organization had received 3% of the target, Katch said.

While that lead may narrow in coming months, charity officials said, it is a good indication that people may be opening their wallets a little wider as Ventura County’s economy creeps out of the doldrums.

That is good news to people like Gary Kasai, director of the county’s Easter Seals chapter. Contributions to the United Way make up 6% of Easter Seal’s $1-million budget, Kasai said.

“Every dollar can mean the difference between some kid receiving help or not getting it,” he said.

A drop in charitable giving over the past three years forced Easter Seals recently to suspend a program that helped children with neurological and physical disorders, Kasai said.

“It’s not like the kids were getting quiche and escargots for snacks,” he said. “There just wasn’t enough money to keep it running.”

United Way directors are continuing their strategy of reporting results from individual communities as a way to spur a little “friendly competition,” Katch said. That focus also helps drive home the point that dollars are raised--and allocated--locally, he said.

“People respond better to neighbors asking for dollars instead of someone they don’t know from another city,” Katch said.

Thermometers charting a community’s progress will be posted on signs in each region and will be updated frequently, he said. The Times will also publish a chart each week in its Sunday edition showing each region’s progress. The campaign ends March 31.

The $5.35-million goal is the same as the United Way’s 1993-94 target.

United Way stayed with the same goal this year in part because of the economic slump, which has prompted some county businesses to trim their work force, shut down and move elsewhere, Katch said.

Last year, donor gifts fell short of the mark by about $200,000. Therefore, if the 1994-95 campaign goal is met, it will represent a 5% increase, said campaign manager David Harris.

Katch said United Way directors came up with the target after evaluating the current state of Ventura County’s economy and past levels of giving from the county’s various regions.

“It’s like any planning exercise,” Katch said. “You make your best guess. And you often come out too high or too low.”

United Way is not the only charity that has seen donations level off in recent years. Kasai of Easter Seals said dollars to his organization have also slowed.

“In the good ‘ole days, we would set our target at 10% greater than the previous year,” Katch said. “But those days are gone. I don’t know any nonprofits that are looking for increased donations.”

Contributions to the United Way are funneled to 59 local agencies that serve Ventura County residents with dozens of social welfare offerings, including psychological counseling, provisions for food and shelter, and rehabilitation programs.

The demand for such services is strong, said Priscilla Partridge de Garcia, the United Way’s coordinator for the region covering Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore and Ojai.

“I deal daily with people who were laid off in a corporate downsizing, who are on welfare or who are returning to the workplace after several years at home,” said de Garcia, who runs the re-entry center at Oxnard College.

“It’s a very hard economy and it’s very hard to get jobs right now. I tell people we all need to pull together to help out.”