United Way of Kitsap County will distribute more than $1.6 million to partner agencies throughout Kitsap County between now and June 30, 2010.
More than $41,000 also will be distributed to other nonprofit agencies as donor designated pledges.
“Many difficult decisions had to be made this year during the grant allocation process,” said David Foote, executive director. “There was a downturn in our annual campaign. We are like all nonprofits, when the economy is down, individual and corporate contributions are down too.”
For a second year in a row, the economy has had a significant impact in terms of the annual campaign participation and on agencies providing essential services such as housing and utility assistance.
“Many of our partner agencies saw an increase in demand for their services,” said Barry Loonam, United Way board president. “Food banks were especially hard hit as more and more people had to stretch a paycheck further than ever.”
Dollars allocated to United Way partner agencies were consistent with the community assessment completed in 2007. The United Way Board of Directors decided that due to current economic trends, programs that provide resources such as food, shelter and child care would be given priority for funding. More than 36 percent of the dollars available went to these priority areas.
“The Community Investment Committee worked diligently to follow the board’s directive to prioritize essential services during our allocation process,” said Beverly Kincaid, chair of the community investment committee and United Way Board member. “But, we also paid very close attention to the details in the applications we received and the responses from applicants during the interviews.”
Additional information about the four United Way of Kitsap County impact areas and the community assessment can be found online at www.unitedwaykitsap.org.
2008 United Way Community Investment Grants to partner agencies:
American Red Cross–Bremerton Service Area — $68,749
Bainbridge Youth Services — $5,789
Boys & Girls Club of Bainbridge Island — $11,115
Boys & Girls Club of South Puget Sound (Kitsap) — $39,570
Bremerton Foodline — $67,825
Campfire USA Central Puget Sound Council (Kitsap) — $968
Capri Heart & Lung Institute — $35,273
Catholic Community Services — $86,716
Central Kitsap Food Bank — $53,503
Chief Seattle Council, Boy Scouts of America (Kitsap) — $17,566
Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County — $855
Elder and Adult Day Services-Bremerton — $10,738
Girl Scouts of Western Washington (Kitsap) — $5,574
Holly Ridge Center — $67,727
Hospice of Kitsap County — $60,249
Interfaith Caregivers of Bainbridge Island — $650
Kitsap Applied Technologies — $4,525
Kitsap Daycare Association — $5,461
Kitsap Community Resources — $116,341
Kitsap Family YMCA — $51,078
Kitsap Legal Services — $1,745
Kitsap Mental Health Services — $22,580
Kitsap Sexual Assault Center — $15,175
Literacy Council of Kitsap County — $7,719
Lutheran Community Services Northwest (Kitsap) — $17,426
North Kitsap Fishline — $41,276
Olympic Mountain Rescue — $10,167
Peninsula Community Health Services — $4,694
Peninsula Services — $2,580
Sound Works Job Center — $1,147
South Kitsap Helpline — $54,444
The Salvation Army — $51,037
Washington State Smiles Partners — $8,147
West Sound Treatment Center — $2,508
YWCA of Kitsap County — $60,790
Peninsulas’ 2-1-1 — $57,000
Designation to community nonprofits — $41,826
