Group opposes state fund cuts to nonprofits
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The Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership unveiled a statewide campaign Thursday to urge Pennsylvania's legislators to hold the line on budget cuts to nonprofit organizations, many of which provide services to low-income families and people with disabilities.
"We need to have this sector be heard from," Grant Oliphant, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Foundation, told a large contingent of nonprofit officials assembled at the 2011 Nonprofit Summit at the Westin Convention Center hotel, Downtown.
The new initiative, called "Why Cut What Works?" comes in response to Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed budget that called for deep spending cuts to address a projected $4 billion state budget deficit. State Republicans recently revealed a $500 million surplus that Mr. Oliphant said might be used to restore some of those proposed cuts.
The campaign includes large postcards that appeal to lawmakers to "do the right thing for the people of Pennsylvania" by providing state funding for programs, including those that support preschool education and "our most vulnerable neighbors." The cards were distributed to the 700-plus attendees at Thursday's summit and a website for the initiative -- whycutwhatworks.org -- was scheduled to launch by Thursday night.
A rally is set for Wednesday at Market Square.
The United Way and community foundations around the state are assisting in facilitating the effort, said Mr. Oliphant.
In a keynote address for the summit, Tina Rosenberg, a New York Times columnist and author of the book, "Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World," told the audience that peer pressure can be powerful if it mobilizes people for change.
As examples, she noted an anti-smoking campaign in Florida that rallied teens to challenge cigarette manufacturers and a nonviolent student movement in Belgrade, Serbia, during the 1990s that used street theater to raise opposition against that nation's former president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Positive peer pressure could have the goal of "fighting against budget cuts for nonprofits," she said.
In other news at the event, Elsie Hillman, Pittsburgh philanthropist and political doyenne, received the Frieda Shapira Medal for Exemplary Leadership for her decades of work in the nonprofit sector.
Accepting the award in front of a crowd that packed the Westin ballroom and gave her three standing ovations, Mrs. Hillman said it was "the most exciting and wonderful award ever given to me."
The award is given annually by the Forbes Funds to honor the legacy of Frieda Shapira, an influential social reformer whose father co-founded Giant Eagle supermarkets.
Mrs. Hillman described Mrs. Shapira as her mentor and said she would donate $5,000 that came with the award to the Homeless Children's Education Fund.
Among those in the audience was her husband, billionaire Henry Hillman. The couple on Thursday celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary.
North Hills Community Outreach received the Alfred W. Wishart Jr. Award for excellence in nonprofit management.
First Published May 13, 2011 12:00 am
