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Courtesy of United Way
Contributions to United Way help some 3 million people,
including 347,000 who lack health insurance. |
Here's your chance to make a difference
United Way: Narrowing the gap in the community
BY AJAY SINGH
UCLA Today Staff
Los Angeles is home to the fabulously rich, yet 42% of its residents
are poor and 1.7 million people lack health insurance. Some of the
world’s top universities are located here, but 30% of the
adults in Los Angeles county lack high school diplomas and 66% of
its third-graders cannot read.
Those are just a few of the reasons why UCLA teams up every year
with United Way of Greater Los Angeles to raise funds for making
long-term improvements in the local community.
United Way has helped improve literacy in more than 854,300 people
and enabled nearly 25,000 adults to take their first steps from
poverty toward self-sufficiency. In addition, it has extended help
and treatment to more than 716,100 residents facing medical emergencies
or other critical times.
The UCLA United Way campaign will take place April 11 through April
22. Contribution forms, in a United Way packet, will arrive in campus
mail April 11. Gifts may be made as a one-time donation or through
a payroll deduction.
Contributors can make a general donation to United Way’s
“Bridging the Gap” Fund, devoted to learning, empowering
and caring, or they can invest directly in any of those three areas.
Donors can also choose to designate a gift to any of about 200 United
Way partner agencies.
“Supporting the United Way is the best way to be generous
to the community as a whole,” said Barbara Nelson, dean of
the School of Public Affairs, who began a five-year term this year
on the United Way board of directors. “I give to specific
charities as well, but I feel best when I give to those whose needs
I only begin to know.”
In the 2004 campaign, staff and faculty raised $246,673. Campus
organizers hope this year’s effort will be even better.
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