MIDLAND, Texas — Every year, the Salvation Army along with other groups and non-profits have to apply for funding from United Way and this year the Salvation Army didn't receive much.
"We have other groups foundations and agencies that try to assist us any way they can," said Salvation Army Lieutenant Robert Coriston. “United Way has been a vital agency in what we do here for years, so we are thankful for them. This year, they had to cut some funding in some areas and unfortunately we were on the larger side of those cuts.”
The funding that was cut would go to programs to help the homeless here, like their shelter and feeding programs. With this funding now lessened, the Army needs to make up for it.
"The United Way is still giving us 25% of what we asked for but we still need to figure out a way to offset what was budgeted for," Coriston said. "It came as a shock and had us scrambling a little bit because we do look ahead to the future. It’s not that we were cut funding it’s that we were cut so much that was unexpected and hit us. Now we are just looking for other revenue other ways to bring in the money so we don’t have to cut any programs we can keep going as strong as we’re going."
We reached out to the United Way of Midland and Kari Hennagin, President and CEO of United Way, she tells us this year they just didn't have enough funding for all groups. They still want to work with Salvation Army in the future.