One must admire the style with which the following matter was covered in the Hendersonville Times-News.
The Council on Aging of Henderson County has retooled its tax forms to show a lower, more “accurate” percentage of overhead after being denied United Way funding earlier this year, Director of Resource Development Joe Johnson said.
The United Way requires recipients of its funds to spend no more than 25% of their budget on overhead. On the forms initially filed, the council had spent $33.2% on overhead.
The council received $79,563 last fiscal year from the United Way — which covered 10,825 meals for Meals on Wheels — before being denied this year.
The council has been working since April with the IRS and a special accountant to bring the numbers into compliance. To date, they have succeeded in two out of three of the past years.
Now, the Council on Aging is claiming it may not re-apply for United Way funding because, it wants to be independent. It has launched an aggressive fundraising program to continue providing Meals on Wheels to 210 homebound people. To date, it has raised over 1/3 of its target $130,000. The next push is a Hats and Shoes on Tap fundraiser scheduled for October 14 at the Southern Appalachian Brewery. People are asked to wear their wildest hats and shoes and pay $10 at the door.
