Dear Friends,

These are very tough times for many, many people in our region. I've seen the despair first hand. I've concluded that serious trouble in the economy is followed by unseen pain and suffering in our communities. This is a special appeal to our faithful donors -- that's you -- to signal your support for those truly struggling to improve their style of life.

Our own community of people is important to each of us. Just look at the word commUNITY. Unity is the children playing in public parks; the voices heard at an annual town meeting; the family preparing the evening meal; the friends in camaraderie around the kitchen table or near the warmth of a fire. So we work to create the unity that can exist between us all.

A UMCC friend for many years, Dr. Rushworth Kidder, recently asked the question in a newspaper column, Does crisis strengthen community? He writes that a tough economy could beget compassion solidarity. Progress depends on helping each other and sharing becomes a means of survival. Along with others I believe the current economic crisis has brought people together. At UMCC we try to suggest ways people can help others through contributions. (See a Statement of Values on back page.)

Because people are not happy or satisfied with the way some things are going in our country, we detect, with others, a change in the way we are thinking about relations between individuals and the community. Sum it up this way -- violation of our core values demands greater responses. The key words in our communities these days and at UMCC alike are Transparency, Consistency and Accountability. UMCC and our donors are a community.

We live and breathe these three words. Any success we've had can be traced to them.

Our ability to raise funds is based on three fundamental precepts:

1. 100% of all contributions are 100% distributed.
2. We are an all-volunteer charity
3. Our modest expenses are paid from a separate endowment established by our Founding Directors 67 years ago in 1942.

You may recognize the name Paul C. Light, author of The Four Pillars of High Performance: How Robust Organizations Achieve Extraordinary Results. In a recent issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, he writes, "A new fundraising survey revealed that respondents lack confidence in nonprofits because they don't think organizations are careful with their money. More than two-thirds said charitable organizations waste a great deal/or a fair amount of money. Half said leaders of charitable organizations are paid too much. And only 13% said charities do a very good job of spending money wisely." 

We are clearly on the other end of that spectrum. First, we visit and examine every agency every year for Mission compliance and financial responsibility. Second, we are satisfied that our donors' funds are allocated for maximum benefit to underprivileged people. We pay no wages. We are all-volunteer, as our Directors do all the visiting and analysis of our fifty agencies. Finally, I think we do a good job of raising and spending our money wisely for the benefit of the underprivileged, if verbal and written testimony is any indication.

On one thing we can agree -- the status quo must change. People get used to the status quo because they are invested in it. People resist change. The status quo has the advantage of predictability. Change is hard to predict, but change we must to improve our community so that everyone has equal chances and opportunities to improve the quality of life. You can influence this change by contributing to UMCC. Please make a generous and thoughtful donation. Your generosity gifts us to gift others in our community.