[nanny]

"You can make whatever decision you want to donate or not to your local United Way,"

I gave to the United WAy the first year I worked (1959). A friend of a friend worked as a typist for UW. When she showed up sporting a diamond watch the UW had given her for Christmas, I decided they didn't need my hard earned dollars.

Also, I don't know if it is encouraged by the UW or not, but many companies have a very heavy-handed way of trying to force you to give to UW. Both my husband and I, have had employers attempt to intimidate us into giving. The old 'team player' thing, and all. We had to be very firm. I am not sure what the employers got out of the 100% participation, but it sure seemed to mean a lot to them.

[RonF]

Yeah, in my first job out of college (1981), I got the pressure on "our goal is 100%". I told them that my charitable interests were none of their business. I got told that I had to at least fill out the card and put down 0%. I threw it in the waste basket.