Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Donate Locally - These Nonprofits Loose Out To Keep Taxes Low

Donations keep many organizations running around the area. The FLS reported earlier this week that the United Way had distributed 1.5M of 3M they have raised through local events. But many of these agencies also rely on city funding for some portion of their activities. Back in April, several agencies came to the public hearing on the budget requesting the city to restore funding for their FY2009 (beginning 7/1) requests. Unfortunately, the city faced a budget cut while keeping the tax rate increase as low as council could agree upon. The following groups did not receive their requested funding, and some groups face reductions from their 2008 funding levels.

If you plan on donating this year, and want to make sure 100% of your donation goes to the organization you want, take a look at the list below and consider making a direct donation. Where possible, I have provided contact information. You can also view the difference in city funding between the organizations 2009 request and their previous year funding.


List of organizations appearing before City Council:


vs. Request

vs. 2008

Link

Phone

ARC of the Rappahannock Area

-3,750

-2,620

http://arcr.communitypoint.org

540-899-3789

disAbility Rescource Center

-3,900

-2,900

http://www.cildrc.org

540-373-2559

Fredericksburg Boys and Girls Club

-51,250

-10,000

http://www.bgcgw.org/clubs/fredericksburg.html

540-368-9531

Rapp. Council Against Sexual Assault

-866

-541

http://www.rcasa.org

540-371-1666

Rapp Council Children & Parents

-5,500

-3,000

http://www.raccap.org

540-785-6217

Rapp Council on Domestic Violence

-8,628

-1,223

http://www.rcdv.com

540-373-9373

Rappahannock Legal Services, Inc.

-4,788

-1,915

http://www.erols.com/rls

540-371-1105

Rappahannock Mediation Center

0

0

http://www.peace2all.org

540-372-7740

Rappahannock Area Agency on Aging

-2,060

-1,030

http://www.raaa16.org

540-371-3375






Fredericksburg Area Museum

-120,000

-5,000

http://www.famcc.org

540-371-3037

Germanna Community College

-818

0



Head Start

-140,231

0

http://www.headstartva.org/

540-372-1065

Volunteer fire

-11,000

-10,000

http://fire.communitypoint.org

540-372-1059



Other organizations that had their requests cut


vs. Request

vs. 2008

Link

Phone

Bluemont Concert Series

-5,000

-3,000

http://www.bluemont.org


Bragg Hill Family Life Center

-6,000

-1,500

http://www.bragghillfamilylife.org

540-371-3662

Court Appointed Special Advocates

-6,000

-4,000

http://www.rappcasa.com

540-710-6199

DRMI, Inc.

-3,000

-1,000

http://www.downtownfred.com


Fredericksburg Area Food Bank

-25,000

0

http://www.fredfood.org

540-371-7666

Fredericksburg Festival of Arts

-2,500

-2,500

http://www.fredfest.org

540-374-5040

Healthy Families Rappahannock Area

-6,732

-1,172

http://healthyfamilies.communitypoint.org

540-288-1937

Heritage Festival Committee

-1,000

-1,000


540-373-7909

Hope House/Rapp. Refuge, Inc.

-3,466

-2,567

http://www.hopehouseva.org

540-371-0831

Hospice Support Care g

-3,500

0

http://www.hospicesupportcare.org

540-361-7071

Senior Visitor Program

-1,600

-1,600


540-371-2704

Moss Free Clinic

-7,300

-563

http://www.mossfreeclinic.org

540-741-1061

Northwest Virginia Health Systems

-1,150

0

http://www.nwvhsa.org/

434-977-6010

RUW Volunteer & Info. Services

-4,950

-4,950

united way


S.E.R.V.E., Inc.

-15,000

0


540-288-9603

Sister City Association, Fredericksburg

-1,000

-1,000

http://fsca.communitypoint.org/

540-898-8699

Thurman Brisben Homeless Shelter

-13,250

-4,250

http://www.brisbencenter.org

540-899-9853

VA Ext.Office/Master Gardeners

-2500

-2,500

http://www.mgacra.org



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is unfortunate but a reality that when resources from traditional funding sources is reduced that is the time when those same charitable organizations are depended on most. Thanks for reporting this critical need in our area.

Bryan said...

Absolutely! You're correct, in a down economy, when the least fortunate families have fewer resources, many of these organizations end up picking up a bigger load. Which creates a need for MORE donations and funding than when things are good.

At the same time, I would like to see families that use many of these services get financial advice. Things like unlimited cell phone plan are not necessary if you have trouble buying food.

Other organizations like the mediation group, help cut our tax paid services like courts by resolving matters before requiring expensive litigation. Others go after "teach a person to fish, feed them for a lifetime" as opposed to keeping them in welfare. Unfortunately big-media tends to find the few 'bad cases' abusing the system, which sours the pool for everyone.

I hope that people find it in there heart to support these local orgs.

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