It was encouraging to see that the United Way of Southern Chester County was able to increase its allocation to 26 different programs by $50,000 over last year [Chester County Press May 24, 2017 issue].
UWSCC is unique in that it only funds programs in Southern Chester County. The donations all stay right here. And CEO Carrie Freeman is really jacked up for next year, when a generous anonymous donor has gifted United Way $100,000 in matching funds for all contributions at the leadership level. Board president John Moriarty has stated that UWSCC will “double down” to get more contributions.
Uncle Irvin and his spouse have been leadership-level donors for many years, but unfortunately for Southern Chester County, there are way too few who give enough to charitable enterprises. Based on statistics, only 16 percent have contributed to this year's campaign.
Basically, this boils down to less than 15 percent of the total giving units who contribute anything, and 85 percent who give nothing.
The number of giving units must increase dramatically in order for UWSCC to do its job and keep our community growing.

(Uncle Irvin's column is his opinion only, and is not a news story.)