United Way of Hunterdon County, NJ

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The Ogre Story
 

You probably already know that United Way of Hunterdon County holds annual campaigns and provides grants to worthy programs and community initiatives. But you may not realize that United Way of Hunterdon County does so much more. We make it our mission to be experts on the complex and ever-changing human condition in Hunterdon County.

We strive to be a resource organizer and community problem-solver, with initiatives and collaborative projects that put your contributions to work where they're needed most. We have a unique grant making and community planning process that calls on volunteers and staff to determine the extent of need in our community and to assess each agency and program to verify its ability to deliver effective outcomes for individuals and families.

With careful planning, The United Way of Hunterdon County has convened Community Solution Teams to make sure the resources at our disposal - including dollars, volunteers and in-kind services - go where they will address underlying causes and create lasting changes in community conditions in Hunterdon County. These teams will also look at the number of underserved/un-served residents; seek to identify, beyond dollars, what other resources are needed; to identify gaps in service; and, to consider all programs and/or initiatives addressing these targeted needs.

We need you! For more information on joining a Community Solution Team,

This story brings the idea of “lasting changes in community conditions”  to life.

A villager is walking by the river early one morning. The villager looks out into the water and sees a baby floating down the river. Horrified, the villager races into the water, grabs the baby, and brings the baby to shore. The baby is fine.

Relieved, the villager looks back into the water and sees another baby floating down the water.

The villager again dives into the water and rescues this baby as well.

Once more, the villager looks into the water . . . and sees dozens of babies floating down the river.

The villager calls out an alarm, and the entire village comes running to the river to rescue as many babies as they can before the water carries them away.

This is a village that is mobilized. Every villager is at the river, trying to save the babies from the water.

This is a village that is improving lives. Many of the babies are being saved.

But the babies keep on coming . . . because no one is going upstream to put a stop to the ogre that is throwing the babies into the water in the first place.

United Way needs to gather a contingent of villagers to go upstream and stop the ogre.

Otherwise, we will be pulling babies out of the water forever.

Pulling babies out of the water is essential. How can we live with ourselves if we don’t try? But it is by going upstream — to re-direct the ogre and put its energies to better use — that we create a lasting change in the conditions that are causing this nightmare to begin with.


 

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