LETTER- We're ginormous in impact

I have to laugh when your Annual Manual describes the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area as a "ginormous umbrella charity."

I guess having 12 staff members qualifies us as "ginormous"! Or perhaps you are referring to the huge impact we have on our community through grants to local programs or our own outreach programs like the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, our Child Care Scholarship Program, or our Information and Referral Center and RxRelief Prescription Assistance Program, and partnerships such as Smart Beginnings, the Thomas Jefferson EITC Coalition and so on.

We are not a chapter or branch of a national organization; we were formed in 1943 by the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce as the Charlottesville and Albemarle War and Community Fund. We belong to a national trade association of similar local organizations across the country that enables us to use the United Way name and logo.

We do have a very large (ginormous?) local board of directors, though.  I'd prefer to think that you are referring to the big impact we have had on our community for more than 65 years...

Thanks for the shout out.

Kim Connolly, Director of Marketing & Communications
United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area

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