Boy Scouts, United Way mend rift

The United Way of Salt Lake and the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America have mended fences after a parting of ways this summer.

The two organizations announced Friday that they have renewed their partnership, severed in June when grant awards based on a refocused set of priorities left the Scouts with a significantly lowered level of funding than in years past.

Under their past contract, the Scouts received $32,000 annually from the United Way. The group learned in May, however, that it would only receive $12,000 per year during the upcoming funding cycle, which runs from July 1 to June 2008.

The amount was not substantial enough to offset the staff time and other expenses to meet the terms of the contract, Scout executive Paul Moore said at the time.

But in a Friday news release, the United Way announced that the two groups had renewed their long-standing partnership "in a way that will best serve the overall community."

"Both of us have had concerns voiced from people in the community ... that support both organizations and have just felt that we really need to work together," United Way President and CEO Deborah Bayle Nielsen said.

"So we started talking about four weeks ago, and basically the Scouts understood, as did we, that it's for the benefit of both organizations and the community if we can work out an agreement that works for everybody."

The move was affirmed by the executive boards of each organization, Nielsen said.

The Scouts have agreed to accept the United Way's original grant offer of $12,000, Nielsen said. The partnership between the two groups was reinstated retroactive to July 1, when the United Way first made its 2006-07 grant offers.

The Scouts received a great deal of feedback after deciding to decline the United Way offer, from both those in favor of the decision and those against, spokesman Kay Godfrey said Friday. There were enough who felt so strongly about the decision to sever the 90-year-old relationship, however, that the Scouts decided to re-evaluate the situation.

"We decided that it would be in the best interests of both of these organizations, as well as those we serve, to reunite," he said.

Godfrey said the Scouts appreciate the $12,000 grant from United Way and are no longer concerned with the actual dollar figure,

"It's more about two big-time community-serving organizations rejoining hands so our efforts can be maintained and streamlined so the best can come out of both," Godfrey said.

Based on a recent community assessment, the United Way of Salt Lake, which serves Davis, Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties, targets its efforts on four key priorities: financial stability, building life skills, strengthening child and youth development and opening doors to education.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com