A big question mark remains for United Way volunteers as they begin evaluating programs for funding in the coming year: How much money will be available?

United Way of Martin County’s annual campaign is winding down, with the year-end “Champions of the Community” dinner and awards ceremony rapidly approaching. (It will be held 5:30-8:30 p.m. March 22 at the Hutchinson Island Marriott.)

The event is designed to celebrate the individuals, agencies and businesses that have put hard work into helping the community and the campaign throughout the year. But it also is the event where United Way usually announces the attainment of the campaign goal, which this year was set at $2.2 million.

As of March 12, however, United Way projects that the fund-raising will fall about $100,000 short of the goal.

As Lucy Corley, the director of development for United Way of Martin County, said, “$2.2 million is just a point on the map to give us direction. The needs are always so much more.”

This year, agencies in some cases have doubled or tripled their requests over their funding from the current year, creating a $400,000 shortfall even if the campaign goal is met. Plus, there are six new requests for funding of worthy programs:

• Council on Aging – Indiantown Senior Outreach Program (provides meals and wrap-around services for at-risk seniors living in Indiantown who currently cannot access services).

• Dunbar Center – Early Intervention Program (provides services to 3-year-old children, allowing parents to continue working, seek work, and/or go to school to better their family circumstances).

• Children’s Home Society – Transitional Living Program for At-Risk Youth (provides job training, counseling, and temporary housing to at-risk youth aging out of the foster care system at 18 years of age).

• Children’s Home Society – Child Protection Team (program to protect at-risk children and enhance their caregivers’ capacity to provide a safe environment).

• Treasure Coast Hospices – Family Counseling Program for At-Risk Youth (provides group and individual counseling for at-risk children who have experienced the death of a parent and/or loved one).

• Red Cross – Indiantown Youth Leadership Program (youth development program focused on organized volunteerism, civic responsibility, positive self-esteem and life skills training).

During the coming month, the 70 volunteers on United Way’s Citizen Review Panels will have tough decisions to make regarding the funding of local programs that range from prenatal services to hospice care. They will make site visits and review the results the programs have attained in the past.

“United Way measures success by how it ‘moves the needle’ on critical issues that affect our quality of life,” said Jim Vojcsik, executive director of United Way of Martin County. “United Way invests in programs that show measurable improvement in people’s lives.”

In Martin County, United Way these programs relate to such critical issues as reducing youth substance abuse, expanding services to a growing elderly population, increasing access to health care for the uninsured, and providing stability and independence for individuals and families in crisis.

Other measures of success lie in the efficiency of the organization:

• United Way of Martin County’s administrative costs are only 15%. (The national average for nonprofits is about 25%, and the Better Business Bureau says a charity is doing well when it spends less than 35 percent on administrative or fund-raising costs.)

• Funds raised locally stay local: 99 cents of every dollar donated to United Way of Martin County stays right here in the community.

For more information, please call (772) 283-4800 or visit www.unitedwaymartincounty.org.