Letter: United Way needs your help

In the wake of Hurricane Matthew’s destruction, United Way of the Lowcountry was put to its sternest test. Calls flooded our Helpline — jumping from eight or so a day to more than 100. Callers had been forced from their homes with nowhere to go. Others were out of food and out of money. Their personal devastation was real and momentous.

In response, our United Way drained its reserves, putting $100,000 toward direct assistance and into the hands of our partner front line charities to meet the emergency. Because of the trust we have built across Beaufort County, we were also placed in charge of overseeing other charitable initiatives for hurricane victims.

It was a blessing to see the community’s response — so swift and generous. Such generosity has put hundreds of local families back on their feet.

Unfortunately, this emergency effort also left our reserves depleted. And, though our overall community has made a speedy recovery, the unexpected emergency funding now threatens our ability to fully support the ongoing tasks our 33 member nonprofit agencies must tackle each day.

United Way of the Lowcountry, and our agencies, have made it our mission to ensure your donations stay local and produce positive, measurable results in the areas of education, health and income/family security.

But to fulfill our mission, we must reach this year’s campaign goal of $2.5 million, which ends this month. We still have a ways to go. Please consider one more contribution, with a check to P.O. Box 202, Beaufort, SC 29901.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Letter: United Way needs your help."