EDITORIAL: The recent announcement of a shortfall in donations to the United Way has raised concerns about funding for one of this community’s brightest organizations.
Over the past few months, stories have been written in various publications and Web sites saying charitable giving has been dropping recently, the result of the double-barreled assault of an economy in recession and the outpouring of money and sympathy for the victims of Sept. 11.
The situation has hit home now as Hightstown’s Better Beginnings, an affordable day-care center for children whose families have difficulty paying for such a service, may see a cut in funding from the United Way of Greater Mercer County. We hope the community can lend a helping hand.
The United Way is facing a $500,000 shortfall in donations and has decided it cannot continue to fund all of the programs it has in recent years. Child care and after school initiatives a category into which Better Beginnings falls will be among the first to see a drop in the amount of money they get from the United Way. Though Better Beginnings has yet to hear it will be among the groups to lose some funding, these are "anxious" days, according to its former executive director and spokeswoman, Bettie Witherspoon.
In addition, Ms. Witherspoon’s reports of donations to Better Beginnings’ penny collection, chronicled almost weekly in the Penny Patter column in the Herald, indicate those donations have dwindled recently.
We cannot blame the United Way for whatever decision it makes regarding the disbursement of its funds. The organization has decided programs that provide food and shelter to the needy will receive a higher priority an understandable position.
This appeal goes out not to the United Way to change its decision, but to the people of Mercer County on behalf of Better Beginnings and other educational and day-care programs that serve the needy here. We ask those who can find the means to give to either the United Way or Better Beginnings, even if it is a small amount (as we mentioned before, the day-care center is collecting pennies).
A lot is made of the quality of public education and its value to a community. Better Beginnings aids the school district by giving underprivileged children a chance to begin learning at an early age a chance they may not otherwise get. Its bilingual education classes and conflict-resolution teachings, all taught by a staff that believes in the importance of the organization’s mission, get its students off to a great start in their academic lives.
Better Beginnings is truly one of the great jewels in this corner of Mercer County. We hope the community sees fit to do what it can to help.