NORWICH – The Chenango County United Way has reached the halfway benchmark toward its annual campaign goal, this year set at $444,000, and in the midst of fundraising, the agency has its sights on using the money to foster different education programs throughout the county.
According to a survey study from the American United Way, 6,000 young people drop out of school every day. The organization established a long-term goal to raise the graduation rate from 74 to 87 percent by 2018, thereby cutting the dropout rate in half. As a result, it’s calling for a bigger push to sustain local programs that promote supportive communities, effective schools and strong families.
In Chenango County, 11 different programs committed to the safety, services and overall education of youth in the area received United Way funding in 2012. Although most didn’t receive the full amount of funding applied for, hopes are this year to offer more to educational programs that need support the most, explained Chenango United Way Campaign Associate Dale Losee.
“The big thing the United Way does with education is we look at it with a broad spectrum approach,” he said, noting that educational programs also exist outside the perimeters of a school. “A lot of the organizations we fund teach kids life-long lessons,” he said. “These are skills they can use every day to enrich their lives.”
A recent assessment conducted by the Chenango County United Way shows that area youth grades 3-8 fell behind the upstate average in language arts and math in 2007; however, the assessment also indicates a higher number of high school students that plan to attend college. In recent years, those who plan to enroll in a university jumped nearly 10 percent, following suit of a statewide trend of higher college enrollment. The goal of the United Way, said Losee, is to keep those good trends going while intervening with – and ultimately preventing – the bad.
“What we want to do is focus on improving test scores, lowering the dropout rate and increasing the graduation rate overall,” he said. “We’re extremely pleased and excited about the community involvement in the annual campaign so far,” he added, “but now we’re entering the second part of the campaign and we need every bit of help we can get.”
Although total funding requests have yet to be tallied, the United Way anticipates funding applications from local educational organizations to exceed $200,000. Last year, the agency allocated more than $172,000 between various organizations including Catholic Charities for its counseling program and crime victims program; Opportunities for Chenango for its literacy volunteers program; the Parents as Leaders Resource Center; and The Place in Norwich, which received more than $52,000 for its Big Brothers Big Sisters, service learning, and AmeriCorps programs.
The United Way is now looking ahead to the rest of the campaign season. “We’re still early in the process,” Losee said. “The second half can be tough, but with community help and support, I’m really optimistic that we will meet our goal.”