Poll: How much are you contributing to the United Way this year? / LJWorld.com

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Response		Percent	Votes
I do not give to the United Way		71%	917
The same as in previous years		12%	155
Less than in previous years		9%	117
More than in previous years		6%	86
Total	1275

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radiohawk (anonymous) says…

If I want to give to a charity, I give to the charity. Directly, without a middleman raking a third off the top.
November 21, 2009 at 2:50 a.m.
ECM (anonymous) says…

Radiohawk I am with you.

Before you give to any charity check out there admin costs and other portions that do not reach the cause you are trying to help. Charity Navigator let you see where your money will be going.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/
November 21, 2009 at 7:30 a.m.
canyon_wren (anonymous) says…

I agree with radiohawk, too. There are so many ways to directly help people in need in a community, if you look for them. Apparently from the poll results, a lot of people feel that way.
November 21, 2009 at 9:05 a.m.
number1jayhawker (anonymous) says…

Agree radiohawk. I've heard United Way takes more money to pay high end employees, then any other charity does.
November 21, 2009 at 9:45 a.m.
toe (anonymous) says…

Giving directly to the charity of your choice is a mature and responsible way to give. Children have to ask for help in making decisions. Adults should take responsibility and make their own decisions. Paying the United Way to make your choices for you seems silly in today's information age.
November 21, 2009 at 10:15 a.m.
honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…

dang, hardly anyone who posts on here gives to the UW? that kind of sucks.
November 21, 2009 at 10:32 a.m.
distant_voice (anonymous) says…

Deciding which charities the United Way gives to has become far too political. I'll decide which organizations I support, not some consortium of left wing addicts.
November 21, 2009 at 10:55 a.m.
puddleglum (anonymous) says…

how much are they gonna contribute to me?

that's what I thought.

to heck with them. If people get their house burned down, catch some incurable disease, lose their legs in an accident or just have bad luck-who cares? that is their own fault. they should have worked harder, instead of looking for a handout. God bless america, we have the greatest healthcare in the world. we are the best. we are #1! Just watch Fox news-digest, they'll tell you all about it. Me? I'm out for number one, baby. everyone else should have gone to college like me, then we would all be successful and nobody would be a trash man or mow lawns. prosperity for all! Insurance companies barely make a profit-how dare you attack them? stop giving all of my money to the people that don't work. Give them a ticket to texas. I'm going back to my football game, maybe after a couple of hours-you people will stop asking me for my hard-earned cash.

thankyou.
November 21, 2009 at 12:12 p.m.
50YearResident (anonymous) says…

According to this poll 29% of the Lawrence residents gave $1,000,000 to United way. Thats a lot of money! And 71% of residents gave nothing!
November 21, 2009 at 5:32 p.m.
Boeing (anonymous) says…

I'll give about $500 a year to charity. I have my charity of choice, and there is now way I would ever consider giving a penny of that $500 to United Way.
November 21, 2009 at 7:17 p.m.
sourpuss (anonymous) says…

LJWorld, please stop reporting on the United Way as if it is news. That or report on all other charities the same amount. Or is the LJWorld beholden to the UW?
November 21, 2009 at 10:04 p.m.
samsnewplace (anonymous) says…

The one time in my life that I was down on my luck and actually needed help, I went to Legal Aid only to be told that my pittance of a paycheck was too much to qualify for their assistance. I said, "so you have to be totally unemployed to receive assistance through Legal Aid?" and basically was told yes you do. So that ended my contribution to the wonderful United Way! If they can't help me when i'm in need, then I can't help them now.
November 22, 2009 at 12:54 a.m.
BABBOY (anonymous) says…

I do not give to the United Way, but I do give to charity ive groups. I ususally donate to groups fighting diseases. i also play in chairty golf events where the money goes to good causes and sometime sponser holes or whatever.

I find odd that the ljworld keeps asking this question. Someone must be connected with them. Not saying United Way is a bad group.

Puddleglum's post is funny. Not in good way. But, more in figures he would be a jerk like that. He always posts in favor of conservative issues. What does that tell you about conservatives?
November 22, 2009 at 8:19 a.m.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…

PART I
Well puddleglum the good Holy Spirit has certainly not touched your heart in any way.
***to heck with them?*** Who the human race -which I might add you are a part of or did anybody forget to tell you? ***if people get their house burned down, catch some incurable disease, lose their legs in an accident or just have bad luck-who cares?*** Things happen to people. We don't live in a perfect world. Who’s to say that house that burned down wasn't the result of some unknown reason or an arson? It could even happen to you. Would you blame yourself? Disease happens to the best of us, even little children. Are they to blame? I had a friend who lost a leg. All he was doing was getting into his car to go to work and a truck sideswiped him and mangled his leg and they had to remove it, was that his fault?. But he still goes to work and rarely misses a day. Have you ever had bad luck? Did you BLAME yourself? Bad luck happens to the best of us. It’s a part of life, because life is not perfect. There is good, bad and the ugly. Which I think you are the last, for showing no heart. ***they should have worked harder, instead of looking for a handout.*** There are hard working people in this world. I'm one of them and I hate to ask for a handout, but I've had to do it a few times in my life. I try to pay it forward as my way of paying back. Which is what we all should be doing? Imagine if there were no money in this world and all we had were our own resources to survive on. Would you walk by an elderly person starving or share a piece of bread with them? Would you help the pregnant woman carry her bucket of water from the stream or carry your own and just walk by her? I mean I just don't get your mentality. It appears cruel and harsh to me. Cold and empty. It scares me also to think there are people who think like you in this world.
November 22, 2009 at 10:27 a.m.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…

part ii
***God bless America, we have the greatest healthcare in the world.*** Maybe we do have healthcare, but the insurance companies have gotten Greedy. I blame corporate American for the mis-handling of this system. They offered this benefit to lure people in at a time when businesses were booming, then they put all these restrictions on it and people had no choice but to obey or loss their job. Now that the pendulum has swung way past the mark which put the American people in a bind, because corporations don't want to pay a living wage. They've created the working poor who can't afford the healthcare, but the restrictions remain at the corporate level. If you are sick (for any reason you MUST see a Doctor and bring a note for proof. Even if it is a headache. See where that has gotten us?
November 22, 2009 at 10:30 a.m.
sunshine_noise (anonymous) says…

part iii
***me? I'm out for number one, baby.*** How more shallow can this statement be? ***Everyone else should have gone to college like me.*** When I was younger they didn't have the PELL Grant or affordable student loans. Only the wealthy could afford college. I attempted a couple years ago to get my degree - almost had it when the "Corporation" I was working for gave me an ultimatums (or rather my Manager did). Quit the classes (because she thought they interfered with me doing my mindless job) or be fired. At the time I had no choice. It was either unemployment or work to survive. This was not my doing; it was bad luck for me. I'm a dedicated worker and I pay my own way, but when you have someone bigger always pushing you down it wears on you after a while. We are only HUMAN. Now I am stuck in the working poor class for other reasons I can't post. ***then we would all be successful and nobody would be a trash man or mow lawns.*** Being a Trash Collector is an honorable job - someone has to do it. The lawns have to be mowed. I think any job is honorable as long as it is making life better for the human race. I think there are too many non-essential over paid desk jobs we don't need that Corporations use to better their images and serve no real purpose in society. ***Insurance companies barely make a profit-how dare you attack them?*** Insurance companies are the scorn of society - they are out and out CROOKS and need major policing. ***stop giving all of my money to the people that don't work.*** Grant it our society has lost the meaning of work ethics, being responsible for ourselves. The younger generation is lazy and thinks this country owes them a living. It’s also a Catch-22 situation. The people, who do want to work, can't get hired because of the narrow view of employer's expectations. They expect you fit into "an image" they have in the way you dress, smell, speak, hair, nails, shoes, mannerisms, jewelry, etc, etc., your age, years worked and last of all your skills. I put skills last because anymore those are the least important expectations these days. Because it’s all about IMAGE and what image you have to offer.
***Give them a ticket to Texas.*** This statement is just ignorant. No comment.

I know this article was about the United Way, but puddleglum's comments just spark a fire in me I had to let out. Hope I did not offend anyone. Bottom line is we just have heart and understanding and give a little (even if is a dollar or a cup of coffee) it will mean more to someone who has nothing. We all get down on our luck every now and than and just to have someone acknowledge that you are alive and you matter helps just to make that day worth living.
November 22, 2009 at 10:39 a.m.
H_Lecter (anonymous) says…

Giving directly to a charity is great, but those charities depend on United way funds too. The United Way through its affiliation with employers and it's other fund-raising efforts provide dollars that otherwise wouldn't be available.
November 22, 2009 at 11:21 a.m.
RalphGage (Ralph Gage) says…

Back when the Earth was cooling, I had the good fortune to be president of what then was the United Fund in Lawrence.
I applaud everyone who gives to support the charities of their choice, and who supports their churches and other organizations that do good works in the community.
But bashing the local United Way is not an answer. Rather, it's truly an unfortunate response. The local United Way provides a greatly needed service in our community and assists thousands of people annually, and not at any exaggerated 30 percent overhead cost. (And what is that overhead anyway? At my church, for example, most of the annual budget goes for the building and the staff. Nobody challenges leadership and a facility as excessive overhead...)
Regardless, anyone who has an issue either with an agency or with the local organization itself should contact a United Way board member or the leadership of the United Way. (See http://www.unitedwaydgco.org/)
This organization and the agencies it serves earn and deserve full support from the community year after year.
November 22, 2009 at 4:46 p.m.
LawrenceKSHomeBoy (anonymous) says…

I give to water.org, a great charity based out of Kansas City. They do wonderful work in developing countries. If you are looking for a worthwhile charity check them out.
November 22, 2009 at 10:08 p.m.
redneck (anonymous) says…

I would rather give directly to the organizations that are most important to me. I don't want somebody else making that decision for me.
November 22, 2009 at 11:58 p.m.
AnnaUndercover (Anna Undercover) says…

@RalphGage
Thank you for posting that.

@ECM
Re: your overhead comment: If you don't pay a nonprofit staff even the pittance that they *do* get most of the time, who is going to spearhead the effort to accomplish a critical mission for social justice?
November 23, 2009 at 12:23 a.m.
Renaissance (anonymous) says…

there was an article in the New York Times several days ago regarding the United Way that talked about fraudulent accounting practices and other mischievous internal activity. The United Way is perhaps the most crooked charity around- certainly someone is benefiting from those donations, I just don't buy for a second that it's the people I intended to help.
November 23, 2009 at 6:16 a.m.
rdave (anonymous) says…

radio hawk says it all. The United Way does represent some fine orgs...but give to them directly. I promise they won't turn it down.
November 23, 2009 at 2:38 p.m.
monkey_c (anonymous) says…

Radio Hawk nailed this one right off the bat. Give directly and watch the gift at work in your community.
November 23, 2009 at 4:33 p.m.
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…

The people have spoken. 72% of those polled do NOT give to the UW. Are you listening UW? You are a corrupt entity and unless you fanangle your way into a coporation and get the CEO to practically threaten the employees to donate, the people have your number.
November 23, 2009 at 5:07 p.m.
cletus26 (anonymous) says…

i do give to united way. i have never had to use the assistances, but have known people whom have and was glad that i was giving when i saw the help the individuals recieved from the agency. the ones talking they don't give but direct; yeah right. i used to say the same thing and never gave, but now it is taking direct and i've been doing it for years and plan to continue.
November 24, 2009 at 12:20 a.m.