United Way of Mercer County issues new appeal

By Lea Kahn, Packet Group
   LAWRENCE — When Craig Lafferty puts his head on his pillow at night, he worries that a family will show up at a nonprofit agency for help and find that the door is closed.
   Why? Because of a lack of funding. And that’s what may happen if the United Way of Greater Mercer County, of which Mr. Lafferty is the president and chief executive officer, cannot raise money to help the agencies that depend on it.
   That’s why the organization is sending out 11,000 letters to Mercer County households, encouraging them to make donations to the United Way of Greater Mercer County.
   ”We all know that we are in the midst of an economic hurricane,” said Michael Conlan, who chairs the board of the nonprofit agency. “There is much uncertainty about how we will weather the storm. People are worried and they have cut back. The first place (they cut back) is charitable donations.”
   The United Way of Greater Mercer County raised $8 million for its 2008 campaign, but the 2009 campaign — which is midway through its cycle — already is $1.5 million in the hole, Mr. Conlan said last week. That’s the amount that Merrill Lynch would have contributed to the annual campaign, he said. The company is in the process of being acquired by Bank of America, and does not plan to make a donation.
   Although it does not have a specific goal for its fund-raising efforts, Mr. Lafferty said the agency wants to match last year’s total of $8 million. Before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the group raised as much as $10 million. But in the past three or four years, it has raised $8 million to $9 million annually.
   Mr. Lafferty said the local United Way’s fear is that it won’t be able to raise $8 million, and that’s why it needs people to step forward and help the community by donating money in any amount that they can.
   ”It’s not looking good,” Mr. Conlan said, adding this is why the United Way is asking people who have never donated to the group to dig into their pockets and make a contribution.
   Mr. Lafferty said the United Way doesn’t want people to make great sacrifices, but rather than going out to dinner and spending $50 or $75 per person, stay home and write a check for that amount of money to the agency.
   For more information about the United Way of Greater Mercer County, visit the Web site at www.uwgmc.org.