With the holiday season here, Kaua’ians are willing to dig into their pockets to make donations to two worthy charities — Kaua’i United Way and Wilcox Health Foundation. The islanders do so because the organizations are among the largest charities
With the holiday season here, Kaua’ians are willing to dig into their pockets
to make donations to two worthy charities — Kaua’i United Way and Wilcox
Health Foundation.
The islanders do so because the organizations are
among the largest charities on Kaua’i and because their work is perceived to
greatly benefit the island, representatives say.
But securing funds has not
been an easy task. There are more charities nowadays that compete for
donations, according to Kaua’i United Way executive director Scott
Giarman.
With people being virtually bombarded with requests for
donations, they are less likely to give, Giarman said. The amount of donations
to United Way had been up until 1998, but a year later “we were down 7
percent,” he reported.
“It is too early to tell what our figures are for
this year,” he said. “But we are more than half way to our goal of $550,
000.”
People are more likely to give after they find out that their
donations will remain on Kaua’i and benefit fellow islanders, Giarman
said.
“United Way is not a sexy thing. People have the impression money
goes to Washington, D.C. or to Honolulu,” he said. “But they feel better when
they hear the money will stay on Kaua’i.”
With the changing face of
employment on Kaua’i, United Way has had to be more enterprising and aggressive
in the way it has solicited funds.
In the past, sugar plantation employees
were among the biggest contributors to United Way, Giarman said. But the money
has dried up as sugar companies close, including Amfac Sugar Kaua’i this
month.
Whereas volunteers used to stop at a few large company offices to
solicit contributions through employee payroll donations, they now go to many
more smaller businesses for contributions, Giarman said.
“It is more
difficult to get to talk with people,” he said. He added that meeting potential
donors directly is critical to the success of any fund drive.
“When we
meet people face-to-face and tell them we are only asking them for a couple of
bucks from their paychecks, and when they find out how much good their few
bucks will bring, they do give,” Giarman said.
United Way receives 67
percent of all of it funds from individuals.
The balance of the funds is
raised through grants from business and foundations and from events and direct
mail solicitations done throughout the year.
News coverage of United Way
programs also has helped with the organization’s fund-raisers, Giarman said.
For this year, United Way hopes to raise $550,000 to disburse among the
25 non-profit groups that provide services to the community. They include
American Heart Association (Kaua’i division), American Red Cross, ARC of
Kaua’i, Friendship Club, Ho’ike Kaua’i Community TV, Kaua’i Center for
Independent Living, Kaua’i Hospice, People Attentive to Children, Kaua’i
Economic Opportunity Inc., Salvation Army, YMCA and YWCA.
United Way began
serving Kaua’i in 1946.
While Rebecca Sagum, vice president of
development with Wilcox Health Foundation, said she couldn’t be specific on the
amount of donations the foundation has received from year to year, she noted
that donations have “come in pretty consistently.”
Besides individual
contributions, the hospital foundation receives grants from the Alexander
& Baldwin Foundation, foundations for the Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian
Bank, and trusts with the Wilcox family, Sagum said.
Funds also have been
generated through newsletters, phone and mailout campaigns. For this holiday
season, the hospital foundation has sent out donation requests by mail.
The foundation started out as Kaua’i Health Foundation in 1985. Its sole
purpose was to raise money for the hospital.
In January this year, the
organization changed to its current name to raise funds for the hospital and
the six clinics that make up the Kaua’i Medical Clinic system, Sagum
said.
The donations are used for renovation work and the purchase of new
equipment, and can be used, at the request of donors, for specific purposes,
Sagum said. For instance, money can be used for oncology or long -term care
services.
Funds raised also are for a nursing scholarship program at Kaua’i
Community College and medical school scholarships.
Sagum said more
Kaua’ians are joining current contributors to the Wilcox foundation.
“We
are lucky. They are a giving people,” Sagum said.
Staff writer Lester
Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
