Evening star., 1947-12-29
Chest Budgets
Cut 15Pct. BY
Drive Failure
Serious Hordship,'
Reduced Services
Seen for Agencies

Seen for Agencies
Six Community Chests of the
Washington area will have to get
along next year on budgets is per
cent under the amounts sought
in the Chest Federation CAM
paign, it appeared yesterday.
Chester Morrill,, Budget Committee
chairman, announced a total Of
s3,280, 5000. or about IS per cent of
the campaign goal, would be dis
tributed by the federation. The re-
cent drive had sought $3,900,000.
The Budget Committee, made up
of Is representatives of the Chests,
voted after assessing expected rev.
enue from all sources to base its
recommended allocations on total
which is $31 900 more than has been
raised to date.
Expect Mail Drive Help.
Federation officials, however, are
confident the S31 900 will be avail
able after a systematic mail CAM
paign directed toward all contrib
utors to previous campaigns who did
not contribute this year, it was said.
The six Chests, those of WASH
ington, Alexandria, and Fairfax, Ar
lington, Montgomery and Prince
Georges Counties, make up the fed
Grafton which raises funds for 125
welfare and social agencies in the
area.
The reduced ALLEGATIONS, resulting
from failure of the recent drive, are
tentative and should be considered
subject to minor modification later,
it was emphasized !
Small Sums Come In.
The campaign continues to bring
in through mail appeals small sums
which may be applied to increase
ALLEGATIONS to the individual Chests.
Additional contributions totaling
$598616 were reported today. They
sent the grand total pledged to
date to $3,249, ,446.14-83.32 per cent
of the goal
Mr. Morrill, said the Chests face
serious hardship as result OF
the cut and that every phase OF
Chest operation will suffer"
The Budget Committee, he said,
made the reduction in ALLEGATIONS
to the Chests with full realization
of the meaning of those cuts to the
six similar budget committees
whose members are much closer to
the realities of agency needs. 1t is
these Chest budget committees who
must face agency directors ana
board members in the next few days
to distribute inadequate funds"
Below Essential Needs.
Mr.. Morrill, added that compared
with the recommendation of the
Budget Committee of a minimum
goal of $4,566,o0o, the fund now
being allocated is about 71.8 per
cent of the sum known to repre-
sent the most conservative esti-
mate of all agency needs.
The deficiency will impose
critical strain" on the STATS OF
the agencies and these they serve,
ne went on. pointing out also that
costs of operation are rising and
that human demands for service
are multiplying in number and de-
gree.
Even compared with the $780,
900 goal" he declared, "the funds
being allocated represent shortage
of tragic proportions. In dollars, the
failure of the campaign left total
deficit of about 100000. That Is
slightly more than one-sixth OF the
goal
Reserve Funds Allocated.
In its effort to stretch available
funds as far as possible across
Chest budgets, the federation Budget
Committee wiped out two proposed
reserve funds totaling $685. it
was said. The amount was reappor-
toned among the six Chests.
These funds were the special re-
serve" sum of $63,643 which had
been put in the precampaign fed
Grafton budget to provide for small
salary increases long delayed and
the contingency fund" of 100000
which the precampaign budget car
ried as an emergency fund.
The reapportionment, Mr.. Nor
rill said, leaves the federation with
out money for extraordinary needs
or emergency situations which may
arise in 1913.
Unable to Expand.
Chest presidents asserted the
agencies face the prospect Of going
without needed funds for operation
and inability to expand their SER
vices to meet increased needs.
Malcolm Smith, president of the
Fairfax County Chest, said:
I'VE feel that a good many
agencies will have to curtail their
services to a point where they will
be somewhat ineffective in the COM
munity. Possibly some agencies
may have to close down for time.
That will mean turing people away
from needed help
William o. Tufts, acting director
of the Washington Chest, said
serious complaints may be expected
concerning the agencies inability
to meet the demands of the needy,
inability to use rooms and beds in
the convalescent homes for chill
dren, vacancies in homes for the
aged despite waiting lists. and radi-
cal reductions in the field of char,
acter-building activities.
Expenses Show Increase.
Hugh MaGrath, chairman of the
Arlington Chest Budget Committee,
pointed out that budgets of member
agencies were set at the minimum
last spring and that normal oper-
ating expenses Of several agencies
have increased materially since the
budgets were prepared.
This circumstance is now being
met, he said, by increased alloca-