Let's just call it The Wrong Way

I guess you could call it blasphemy or pretty close to it. But am I the only one getting a little weary of the annual United Way drumbeat. Let's face it, the charity -- at least around here -- seems to have a monopoly on fund raising. All kinds of companies and organizations rally around and sponsor concerted fundraising efforts at plants and businesses. Each year, United Way sets a goal and if I remember correctly it hasn't made its goals for the last few years. I think this weekend they're going to have volunteers on street corners asking for donations. Do they actually think no one has the opportunity to give to the United Way at their plants or offices? Do they think that with business the way it's been that people have a lot of spare change to throw at them? Do they figure that a lot of people just passing through the town are going to dig deep just because they're on the street corner? The United Way isn't really a service agency anyway. It's a fundraiser and distributor. of donated money. After taking an administrative cut, they dole out the rest to agencies that ask them for funds. At the same time, those agencies often do their own independent fundraising. I guess what bugs me is that tons of service organizations raise funds individually and do good works without having a lot of expenses, so what makes the United Way so special that it can tap about every company around for concerted organized fundraising? This is a pretty generous community and there are scads of foundations that quietly do good works. We might need a United Way -- I don't know -- but I think sometimes they go about it the wrong way. I'd welcome any thoughts, explanations or condemnations.