...crisis and referral hot line that is now in 36 states, including Georgia and South Carolina, according to the United Way of America's Web site, unitedway.org. Need a flu shot? Someone to sit with an elderly parent or help reading a phone...

More than 600 supporters boarded the SS United Way on Monday as the organization kicked off its annual fundraising campaign with a luncheon at Bell Auditorium.

Accounting practices of United Way organizations have come under national scrutiny, but the two local United Way chapters say the way they report contributions is aboveboard.

EMPLOYER SPOTLIGHTWESTINGHOUSE SAVANNAH RIVER CO.OWNER: Washington Group International Inc. of Boise, Idaho

...involved with United Way programs contributed last year, compared with 47 percent 10 years ago, according to United Way of America surveys of about 400 local chapters. In a report by America's Charities, the group argues that employees are...

Since 1994, the United Way of the Central Savannah River Area has celebrated a series of successful fund-raising campaigns. The money benefited a variety of charities -- locally and elsewhere.

Four years ago, there were those who said establishing an Alexis de Tocqueville Society in Augusta wouldn't happen. "People said we couldn't get any (members)," said Keith Benson, president of the United Way of the CSRA. To qualify for the elite group, an annual donation of $10,000 or more is required. Now the Augusta Alexis de Tocqueville Society is a model for other United Ways seeking to start one. The group started in 1996 with eight members; there are now 15.

If United Way of the CSRA is ever going to reach its $5 million goal in the year 2000, it's going to take community leaders stepping up with major donations. That's why the agency is working to start its own segment of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society, the group of elite United Way donors who give $10,000 or more each year, said United Way Executive Director Keith Benson. So far, six people have stepped forward to become founding members of the society locally, and their names will be announced at the United Way's annual meeting in March, Mr. Benson said.

One of the many privileges I have as chairman of the board of directors of United Way of the CSRA is that I get to see firsthand how our United Way adds value to our entire community and its many nonprofit agencies -- not just United Way's partner agencies.

Good leaders must also have a sense of social consciousness.