Scouting for funding
[Subheading]
Sully Witte - News Editor
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

It appears that the Trident United Way and the Coastal Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America have reached an agreement.

That is great news for the two organizations that have worked together for years to improve lives and make a difference in this community. However, very few details have been released about this agreement and one has to wonder why there's no transparency.

If organizations like TUW want donations, they ought to tell their donors how and where their money is being spent.

Specifics were few, but representatives of the Trident United Way and Coastal Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America said last week they had reached an agreement .

According to Barry Waldman, Vice President of Communications for Trident United Way, "it (the agreement) doesn't change anything about the past, but states our intent to work together and communicate better moving forward."

The United Way earlier announced that it had determined not to give $81,000 this year for the Scout Reach program, which provides Scouting opportunities for children in 10 elementary and middle schools from Charleston, the Neck Area and North Charleston. The United Way said accounting reports from the Scouts were not acceptable; therefore they could not continue to fund the program.

There is no mention in the release of how the funding issue had actually been resolved.

The statement said volunteers and staff from both organizations convened "to better understand each other's decision-making process and fiscal accountability to move forward working together to meet the needs of the youth in our community."

It is good to see that the relationship between these organizations won't change. Both are incredible stewards of the community. However, it is extremely odd that neither was more forthcoming with the agreement, when both need community support to survive.