Rochester nonprofits scramble for funding after United Way announces donation cuts starting next year

Nonprofits scramble as United Way announces it’s cutting donations

Nonprofits scramble as United Way announces it's cutting donations

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Local nonprofits are scrambling to find funds after the United Way of Rochester announced they’ll be cutting donations starting next year.

Now, 16 of these nonprofits have come together, expressing concern over what these cuts will mean to Rochester and the people they serve.

These nonprofits say without that funding, it will affect all of the Rochester community – from individuals to other nonprofits. According to a letter from the local nonprofits, up to 40,000 individuals or households could be impacted by these cuts.

Representatives from the Salvation Army say every local nonprofit helps the others. Even taking away funding from just one nonprofit can be like taking away a leg from a table — they rely on one another to keep the system balanced for those who need it.

“It’s an infrastructure of nonprofits that serve Rochester. And, you know, one of them being Foodlink — which is the only food bank here in Monroe County … with Foodlink also being cut by the United Way — it just shows how, you know, we don’t we don’t serve in a vacuum, right? Like we serve together as a local community of nonprofits. And, you know, now that some of the nonprofits that receive food from Foodlink have been cut, and then Foodlink being cut themselves, (it) obviously just compounds the problem,” said Major Rick Starkey, director of operations at the Salvation Army of Rochester.

The Salvation Army and other nonprofits say they’re now looking for other donations and funding to get what they need.

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