Huntingdon County United Way History
The Huntingdon County Community Chest was founded in May 1937 by
Mr. William E. Swigart, Jr.
In November 1954, the Huntingdon County
Community Chest became incorporated
and the name was changed to the Huntingdon County United Fund. The
character and object of which is to secure effective, economical,
and efficient results in the charitable, social, philanthropic, civic
and benevolent work carried on in Huntingdon County, PA, through
the promotion of better business methods and higher standards of
cooperation in and among the beneficiary agencies; to study the social
needs of the community; to solicit, collect, and otherwise raise
money for the support of all beneficiary agencies which have a just
claim for same, and to expend, distribute, disburse, invest and dispose
of the same for such purposes, to the end that the beneficiary agencies
may be relieved of the necessity of making separate appeals for financial
support; and for these purposes to have and possess and enjoy all
the rights, benefits and privileges of the said Act of Assembly and
its supplements. In 1977, the
Huntingdon County United Fund became
the Huntingdon County United Way, Inc.
Major milestones reached during the years: 1967: $83,404.00, 1979:
$128,826.00, 1989: $308,936.28, 1997: $382,365.06, 2002: $405,419.92,
2005: $409,555.69
The United Way and the
Community conduct the following fundraisers: Golf Tournament, Holly
Trail Home Tour, Volunteer Recognition Dinner, Volunteer Service
Award
United Way of Pennsylvania
The goal of the United Way is to increase the organized capacity of people to
care for one another. The mission of the United Way of Pennsylvania is to assist
and champion the efforts of local United Ways, provide statewide leadership on
critical issues, and cultivate partnerships beneficial to the 89 local United
Ways in Pennsylvania. United Way of Pennsylvania, or UWP, provides a variety
of services to its members, which include:
• fundraising and general consultation
• personnel
• board and issue training
• the facilitation of resource sharing
• the promotion of best practices
• and cultivation of the historic labor/United Way partnership.
United Way of Pennsylvania serves as a link between community concerns
and policy makers who affect change in vital programs. The organization
works to strengthen the understanding of public officials on the
local, county, state, and federal levels about the important leadership
role United Ways and other voluntary agencies play in solving community
problems.
United Way of PA also serves
a Campaign Manager for the annual State Employee
Combined Appeal--better known as
SECA. SECA was established in 1977
as the only charitable campaign allowed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
in its offices statewide, and topped the $4 million mark for the
first time in 2000. The board is chaired by Alan Perez, President,
United Way of Erie County. The Vice Chair is Edward J. Sheehan, Jr.,
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Concurrent Technologies
Corporation. Tony Ross serves as President of United Way of Pennsylvania.
United Way of America
The first modern Community Chest was created in 1913, laying the foundation for
the practice of allocating funds among multiple causes. Five years later, representatives
from 12 fund-raising organizations met in Chicago and established the American
Association for Community Organizations, the predecessor of the present-day United
Way. By 1929 more than 350 Community Chests had been established.
Payroll deductions for charitable contributions debuted in 1943. In 1946 the
United Way’s predecessor organization initiated a cooperative relationship
with the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
(which merged to become the AFL-CIO in 1955); the two groups agreed to provide
services to members of organized labor. (The relationship continues today, with
the organizations collaborating on projects such as recruiting members of organized
labor to lead health and human services organizations.)
The Uniform Federal Fund-Raising Program was created by order of President Dwight
Eisenhower in 1957, enabling federal employees to contribute to charities of
their choice. (The program later evolved into the Combined Federal Campaign.)
Six years later Los Angeles became the first city to adopt the United Way name
when more than 30 local Community Chests and United Fund organizations merged.
The national organization, which had been operating under the United Community
Funds and Council (UCFCA) name, adopted the United Way of America (UWA) name
in 1970. It established its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, the next year.
Congress made its first grant for emergency food and shelter to the private sector
in 1983, and UWA was selected as its fiscal agent. UWA created its Emergency
Food and Shelter National Board Program the same year. In 1984 UWA created the
Alexis de Tocqueville Society to solicit larger donations from individuals (it
attracted such members as Bill Gates and Walter Annenberg). |
