United Way will distribute funds for emergencies
The United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades has announced that Lee County human service agencies are receiving funds to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in the area. Lee County agencies are receiving $245,998.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency makes the funds available, and the funds are distributed by the United Way to local agencies. This is the second time that FEMA funds have been distributed this year, with $507,103 being distributed to Lee County agencies in June 2009.
Jo Anna Bradshaw, a United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades Board Member, chairs the local allocation committee which oversees the allocations process. “These funds will be used by agencies that serve people in need of emergency food and shelter,” she said. “The funds will help fill food pantries and provide shelter to the men, women and children who are hurting the most,”
The local allocation committee, charged with distributing the funds appropriated by Congress, requested applications from agencies and determined that the following agencies would receive emergency food and shelter funds:
Catholic Charities
Lehigh Community Services
Lee County Social Services
Cape Coral Caring Center
F.I.S.H. of Sanibel
Abuse Counseling and Treatment (ACT)
The Salvation Army
Harry Chapin Food Bank
Cliff Smith, President of the United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades added, “The emergency food and shelter funds are being put to work where they are needed the most, and the administrative costs of getting the funds to the agencies who actually provide emergency food and shelter is only 2% of the total. That is extraordinarily low and speaks to the efficiency of the program. This is the second distribution of funds from FEMA in 2009.”
The United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades has been “the way the community cares” since it was established in 1957. For more information please call United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades at (239) 433-2000 or visit www.unitedwaylee.org.