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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Campaign generates $9M for low-income workers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A delighted Bill Bolling, executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, is amazed.
For a $200,000 investment, the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign has been able to generate $9 million to go directly into the wallets of the working poor.
“Show me any one who can get that kind of return, be it a for profit or a non-profit,” Bolling said.
This is the first year of the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign, which helps the working poor apply for available federal tax benefits that they can receive if they submit the proper paperwork.
Bolling has said that this is a form of economic development because it helps people who have some of the greatest needs and it pumps money into the local economy.
Several entities are partners on the Atlanta Prosperity Campaign, including Atlanta’s United Way and the hospitality industry.
Because of the first year’s success, the plan is to double the investment of the campaign in the coming year.
And Bolling, who can detect economic trends by the number of people who are seeking support from the food bank, said the working poor is being particularly hard hit today.
“Forty percent of the people who come through our doors have full-time jobs,” Bolling said. “Those are not the people we were set up to serve.”
