Giving

UPDATED 10/19/09 For this guide, the Observer collected updated donation and volunteer needs for agencies from across the Charlotte region.

In Charlotte, a city with a national reputation for its can-do spirit, the old ways of meeting the greater good no longer work.

The United Way of Central Carolinas will send tens of thousands of dollars to local private schools and other well-heeled nonprofits, even as it slashes grants to agencies serving the poor and disabled.

Consolidation among Charlotte's nonprofits took a step forward with news that two agencies serving the elderly are studying a merger.