the United Way can Go F#$@ themselves

[Driver_dylan]

I realize that this post may offend some, but what I have to say has gotten me so mad, that I Have no choice. That being said, I applogise to any offended party in advance.

:soap: For years now we as CM's have been incurraged, some might say forced, to give some of our hard earned pay to the United Way. Why? What we have been led to believe was that if we were ever in real trouble financially, we could turn to one of the charities that they support and find help. Over the last six months, I have been in progressively worse and worse shape financially and have finally been forced to turn to the United Way for help.

Now at this point I should tell you that the people at the United Way itself were very simpithetic and very nice and genually seemed like they wanted to help, which is why I am so hurt and angry by the rest of my experiance.

I was given four numbers to call which belong to local charities around where I live that would do the accaul helping. Two of them informed me that they had no more funds; one never answered except by fax; the fourth, conducted a brief over the phone interview, then told me to gather several financial statements and come in for a second interview where they would make a determination of help. I assumed, foolishly, that I would be kept on the premmise that I was an honest guy that had just fallen on hard times, which was the truth. Yet from the start of the interview, I was treated like, like , or . Then, the deepest cut of all. After making me feel two inches tall for even asking for help, the woman interviewing me takes on cursery glance at my bank statement, (which by the way had more red ink on it than I would care to admit) and told me that I was not elegable for help because I did not fit their criteria for those that merit assistance.

Now I'm not sure what they ment exactly, but it made more sence once I picked up my girlfriend from the waiting area. That was when I noticed that I was indeed different from that others in the room. For starters, I am 27 and those in the room were: (I'm guessing) 16, 20, 20 but seriously strung out, and 10 or at the most 12. I am white, and they were: Spanish, White, Black, and Spanish. I have no kids, and they had (by counting): Two, one, god I hope not, and currently very pregnant. All of these people had been helped before because they had done nothing but tell my girlfriend how easy the process was.

Now I don't claim that I was any worse off than they might have been, but one of them had a Coach handbag, and I am left to pray that they don't turn off my power before next thursday when my next pay check hits. This has unfortunatly led me to the belief that this charity judged me solely by my race and and is therefore racist and therefore does not deserved to be supported by the money that we pay. This is why I have to urge you to remove your support as well, until such time as this charity decides that they should judge those who apply solely by the accual merit of their need, and not by the background they come from. As for me, I have no other recourse but to continue to look for some way to find the 156 dollars I need until they turn the power off to my appartment, which at current, shouldn't be too long.

[Syndrome]

Personally I've never seen the point in donating my money to a third party who A) decides what charities will get it; and B) takes a big cut to do so, and if a workplace tried to pressure me I would point out those two salient facts.

When you add the scandals below, it only hardens my resolve NOT to support them. I choose the charities I wish to support and and donate directly:

In 1992, William Aramony, CEO of the national organization, and in 2004, Oral Suer, CEO of the Washington, D.C. chapter, were convicted of misuse of donations.

In May 2006, Kim Tran the former CFO of United Way of the National Capital Area (Washington, D.C.) resigned, claiming many issues remain.

In April 2006, the New York City United Way revealed misappropriation of assets by Ralph Dickerson, the retired CEO of that chapter. The appropriation of resources occurred over a three year period, ending in 2005.

[hobie16]

Ahhhhh, the good old United Way. Years ago I worked for Pacific Telephone. We too were "encouraged" to contribute as our supervisors would pay the price if we didn't. They would pick one employee to lead the annual sheep dip sessions that always included a tear jerker movie.

One year's sheep dip session was very memorable. It was led by Don who had done it the previous year. Our group happened to be the first in our district to be dipped. Don started off by introducing himself and said that rather than read the prepared script, he wanted to talk about his United Way experience.

He told us about how his wife was on the mend from cancer but was unable to take care of their two kids. As Don had been telling hundreds of people about the virtues of UW, he decided to contact them to see what they could do for his family.

After filling out some paperwork he was told it would be six months before they would do anything and they wanted twice his hourly pay for anyone to come to his home.

Don closed by saying, "My mission here today is to convince you all to not contribute a dime to United Way."

He, of course, was yanked from doing any other meetings but the damage was done. Word spread like wild fire and United Way pretty much kissed off any money from any phone company locations on the San Francisco Peninsula for a few years.

[Switchbeam 9]

Being a CP I wasn't swayed much by their pathetic attempts. I would do my time, say さよなら　sayonara, and take my huge CP paychecks all the way to the bank! :twisted:

I feel so evil. Like a nefarious Mr. Scrooge.

Hope things get better for you soon, Dyl. Enjoy the faith-based initiatives. =/

[felinefan]

I had a similar experience with the unemployment office (EDD) a number of years ago. I tried to get benefits from them for being unemployed, and they insisted I get a job. They said at that time that I would only be getting like $15 a month in assistance. But the jobs they offered me were either on the other side of the planet or something I was totally unable to do. My protests of these facts fell on deaf ears. And the "funny" thing is, my friends that were black, Latino or Asian who went to the EDD to get a job had money practically thrown at them. They were not offered a job of any kind, or if they insisted, they were told the only jobs available were those on-the-other-side-of-the-planet jobs. I don't understand why white people don't get anything, while nonwhites get everything. That's not how this country is supposed to work.
Thankfully, you can apply for benefits online, though you will have a phone interview, and the last couple of times I've had to claim unemployment benefits I got them.

But I see what you're saying--any time you get an organization that handles lots of money because of the name recognition, you're going to get people who line their pockets and have their hands in the till.

I'd say this calls for a well-written letter to the editor of the newspapers in your area, as well as a visit to their site to leave your comments, as well as any other means of spreading the word. There's a site called epinions.com that lets you leave ratings for various products, amusement parks, companies, etc., as well as http://www.ripoffreport.com. Say, you can check both sites to see what others have posted about UW--should be interesting.

Now, if someone could explain to me why the California lottery is supposedly helping our schools, yet we have so many kids that come out of schools functionally illiterate, with no job skills, and they end up, as you've seen, on welfare, well, I'd be glad to hear the explanation. I'm so glad I voted against it--I knew there couldn't be any good in it.

[kurtisnelson]

One place that is helpful is the destiny food bank. They are located on Michigan right after you get off I-4. I did a bunch of computer setup for them as all welfare applications have to be done online They provide very low cost food if you need it.

[EeyoresButterfly]

I guess it just depends on the area (and it sounds like your problem is not with the United Way itself but with the charities they sent you to. Have you gone back to them and told them what happened?) Here in our area the United Way is great, they run the sheltered workshop, which is a big benefit to our area, there are so few opportunities in this region for people with disabilities becuase of the size of the towns. We've never had an issue with them here.

[mgilmer]

I had a similar experience with the unemployment office (EDD) a number of years ago. I tried to get benefits from them for being unemployed, and they insisted I get a job. They said at that time that I would only be getting like $15 a month in assistance. But the jobs they offered me were either on the other side of the planet or something I was totally unable to do. My protests of these facts fell on deaf ears. And the "funny" thing is, my friends that were black, Latino or Asian who went to the EDD to get a job had money practically thrown at them. They were not offered a job of any kind, or if they insisted, they were told the only jobs available were those on-the-other-side-of-the-planet jobs. I don't understand why white people don't get anything, while nonwhites get everything. That's not how this country is supposed to work.

That is easy. It is because to the bureaucracy, who, for the most part, owe their jobs to big government liberals, believe all whites are racist oppressors and deserve nothing but their contempt while nonwhites are the victims of the racist oppressors and deserve anything they can give them. Its not fair, but that is the way it is.

[GrUvGrL]

WoW, I'm not that familiar with united way to comment on that part of this discussion, but in response to feline:

I had a similar experience with the unemployment office (EDD) a number of years ago. I tried to get benefits from them for being unemployed, and they insisted I get a job. They said at that time that I would only be getting like $15 a month in assistance. But the jobs they offered me were either on the other side of the planet or something I was totally unable to do. My protests of these facts fell on deaf ears. And the "funny" thing is, my friends that were black, Latino or Asian who went to the EDD to get a job had money practically thrown at them. They were not offered a job of any kind, or if they insisted, they were told the only jobs available were those on-the-other-side-of-the-planet jobs. I don't understand why white people don't get anything, while nonwhites get everything. That's not how this country is supposed to work.
Thankfully, you can apply for benefits online, though you will have a phone interview, and the last couple of times I've had to claim unemployment benefits I got them.

Living in Canada I get deductions on every paycheque for employment insurance, and yes I groan about it at the time... but after quitting my last job because my heart just wasn't in it anymore (I worked in immigration law and found the system so corrupt, I just found it hard to help people I knew didn't need the help and tell people I knew needed help the system can't do anything for you) So anyway, I left my job about August, although I was still there on and off while I looked for something else. By October I hadn't found anything so I finally went to Employment Insurance and said I need to file a claim. It took about 2 months for it to finally come through but I received the maximum amount allowed for 8 months and took my time looking for a job. They never hassled me.

[Driver_dylan]

That is easy. It is because to the bureaucracy, who, for the most part, owe their jobs to big government liberals, believe all whites are racist oppressors and deserve nothing but their contempt while nonwhites are the victims of the racist oppressors and deserve anything they can give them. Its not fair, but that is the way it is.

It is because of close minded comments like this, that I am railing about. It may be "the way it is" as you so put it, but so was segrigation back in the fifties. It was wrong then and it is wrong now; and unless we stand up and say that wrong is wrong reguardless of who it may affect. This is what the great speakers for civil rights like Medger Evers, Martin Luther King, and even Abraham Lincon were not afraid to stand up and say, and in saying, changed the way it is. Fair or not, the way it is can be changed when needed.