Today we had a presentation by, Patrick Foye, the new President of United Way of Long Island.
His presentation emphasized the efficiency of the organization with 85% or more of the raised revenues going directly to the agencies that benefit from a relationship with United Way.
Pat discussed the size of philanthropy on Long Island in terms of revenue, which he stated to my surprise, was about 10% of the local economy, or $10billion.
When it came to the Q&A some of the questions began to drift to issues about LIPA, because Pat serves on the LIPA board, but we quickly refocused the conversation back to the United Way.
One of the agencies that Pat spoke about was “The Retreat.” This agency provides a “safe house” for battered spouses. This agency does not have easy access to funds, and is supported mainly by the United Way. Pat seemed to be proud to be able to help these smaller agencies.
After the formal meeting closed at 9:35 Pat was gracious enough to spend time with many people who wanted to hang around and ask more questions one-on-one.