BY JUDY LIN-EFTEKHAR
UCLA Today Staff
The state budget deficits that are causing
concern here on campus are also casting a dark cloud over human
service agencies throughout the Los Angeles community —
programs that depend, to a large extent, upon government funding
to fulfill their missions.
United Way of Greater Los Angeles provides funds
for some 200 agencies that deliver services to nearly 4 million
adults and children at more than 600 sites in L.A. County, from
child-care centers to family health clinics. Nearly one out
of every five L.A. residents lives below the nation’s
poverty line. More than 2 million of our neighbors have no health
insurance. And 30% of adults have not earned a high school diploma.
“We’re focused on the issue of
bridging the gap,” said Joe Haggerty, president of the
United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “We’re helping
people get more education, helping them learn to read, get off
welfare and get job training — helping the working poor
move out of poverty.”
Chancellor Albert Carnesale, in a letter to
the campus community, urged staff and faculty to contribute
to the United Way campaign that is running now through April
18.
“The needs of our fellow Angelenos might
never have been more pronounced than they are now,” he
wrote. “UCLA will once again draw upon our long-term partnership
with the United Way to help combat these problems and others
that afflict our local population.”
Last year, the campus community helped raise
more than $208,000 for United Way, an amount the chancellor
hopes it can surpass this year. Packets sent to faculty and
staff include a gift form and information on the charities United
Way supports. Donors may contribute via payroll deduction or
a one-time payment to the organization or to specific programs
it supports.
www.ucla.edu/unitedway
