The origin of the Community Chest of Englewood, in the depths of our
country’s worst depression, set the tone for what followed. In the early
1930's, Englewood, along with the rest of the nation, was confronted
with business bankruptcies, widespread unemployment, foreclosures, and
homelessness. Local agencies such as the Englewood Hospital, the
Salvation Army, the Social Service Federation, and a Citizens’
Employment Committee were overwhelmed by the demand for their services
and the difficulty of raising adequate funds. The City’s leading
citizens, in essence, determined that Englewood would take a stab at
looking after its own people.
On June 3, 1932, a committee
appointed by Mayor Cornelius P. Kitchel for this purpose reported to him
"what we believe to be a very spontaneous and widespread public demand
for a community chest in Englewood." The committee determined that
because of Englewood’s well-known community spirit and the large number
of residents with the ability and willingness to serve, a Community
Chest money raising campaign would be successful. The committee
stressed, however, that "mere money raising campaigns, while they might
for a while, seem to be successful, would not, in the long run, work
out, without the entire movement being placed on a higher plane." "This
involves the absolute necessity of budget supervision and control,
together with guidance of the development of the various charities." "It
cannot be stressed too greatly that to be successful a Chest calls for
operation by the highest grade of men that the community affords, - men
of ability, character, and commanding public confidence."
By
October, 1932, the committee was prepared to proceed with the
organization of the new Chest. A leader was needed, a person capable of
enlisting the warm response of the community as a whole.
The
committee’s choice was Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, widow of Englewood’s
best known citizen, Senator Dwight Morrow, who had died suddenly in
1931. Mayor Kitchel wrote Mrs. Morrow at the time "The one point which
is emphasized as absolutely essential to the successful operation of a
Chest, is that it must be operated by the best that the community
affords, and particularly that the Chairman must command the respect and
confidence of the entire community. In our community there is no one to
whom this applies as much as to yourself, and I am asking you to accept
this chairmanship, not alone for the ability and command of confidence
that this requires, but also because I believe that, at this critical
time, there could be no greater service performed for Englewood."
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Mrs. Morrow accepted the chairmanship, thirty-three citizens accepted
positions on what became the Board of Managers, and the first fund
raising campaign was begun in September, 1933. The amount of money
raised, $116,000, was exceptional, and, adjusted for inflation, exceeds
that raised in any subsequent peacetime year. The member agencies
receiving assistance in this first year were Englewood Hospital, Girl
Scouts, Boy Scouts, Social Service Federation, Citizens Employment
Agency, and Salvation Army.
The Community Chest has had its ups
and downs since then. Contributions declined in the thirties as a
slowly improving economy and new federal programs reduced the urgent
need. They rose due to special wartime needs in the early forties and
flattened out in the early postwar years. The sixties and seventies saw a
decline as social and political upheaval in Englewood caused many
former donors to move away. Reflecting growing prosperity, a new gradual
up trend in contributions started in the eighties and continues to the
present.
In the early 1960's the Chest participated in the
founding of the United Fund (now United Way) of Bergen County, which
solicits funds from company employees and distributes them county-wide.
An important shift took place in 1985 in the Chest’s relationship with
the United Way. Previously, the United Way made contributions to the
Englewood Chest, reflecting the fact that some Chest-supported
charitable agencies based in Englewood provide services to a wider area.
In that year the United Way assumed funding responsibility for those
agencies and eliminated its contributions to the Englewood Chest. The
effect of this policy shift has been a substantial increase in the
number of individual charitable agencies to which the Chest makes
contributions each year.
The Community Chest of Englewood is
one of the special things about our community. It is indeed almost
unique for a community of our size to have such an organization. The
Chest epitomizes a fundamental reality of Englewood, Tenafly and
Englewood Cliffs, great social needs coexisting with great resources to
meet those needs. From the beginning, the volunteer efforts of the
Chest’s Board have been crucial to its success. The only staff is a
part-time Executive Director. The Community Chest after almost
seventy-five years continues to perform its very important function of
raising funds in a coordinated way, enabling donors to support many
agencies with one check, and directing those funds in a structured way
to the many worthwhile charitable groups operating in our community.
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