Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412050061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But when he was a boy during the Depression, his father died, and government programs set up to help the poor kept him and his family from starvation.
That experience stayed with him all his life, he said. So, when he retired from Norfolk and Western Railway in 1981, he looked up his friend, Leonard Pick, RAM's first director.
"I knew he needed some help," said Ware, who offered to work every Friday as the organization's treasurer. His last position with the railroad was as director of the marketing, research and planning department. Taking care of RAM's finances wasn't very different from running his department, he said.
There have been many changes at RAM in the past 13 years, he said. The charity had its beginnings in the basement of Christ Episcopal Church, and Pick was the only paid worker. Ware was one of the first volunteers.
At that time, there was no RAM House day shelter or other programs. The agency spent all its resources on emergency financial assistance.
RAM has moved its quarters twice since then, and now is housed on Campbell Avenue at the site of the old Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church.
But the biggest change Ware has seen has been in the charity's budget. The first year, he said, it was $25,000. Last year, it was nearly $300,000.
The biggest boost came from the Good Neighbors Fund, which began 11 years ago and is sponsored by the Roanoke Times & World-News. RAM's director, Julie Hollingsworth, also has been very successful at obtaining government grant money for the organization, Ware said.
Although the budget is bigger, it is easier to manage because of a donated computer, Ware said. He and Hollingsworth meet weekly to go over the printouts.
RAM's method of managing money is somewhat "old fashioned," Ware said, but "it works." The agency has nine different checkbooks, and the person responsible for each one is charged with keeping the account within budget. If that doesn't happen, Ware tries to find out why.
His main objective, he said, is to make sure there are still funds in the accounts during the last few months of the year, when they are needed the most.
Another striking change Ware has seen at RAM is in the type of people seeking help.
Many of them are lower middle-class families who "are going down this road for the first time."
Ware doesn't believe recent reports that people are giving less of their time and money to charity. He thinks the future of RAM and the Good Neighbors Fund looks good.
"People are remarkably concerned when it seems as if something is happening to their neighbors. They're always willing to step in and help."
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to the Roanoke Times & World-News, P.0. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not amounts of donations - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
by CNB