community chest
/kə'mju:nititʃest/
Definition
- Noun:
- A charitable fund supported by voluntary contributions from individuals and organizations within a specific area: A "community chest" is a local fund that collects money from private donors to finance various social welfare and charitable services for the community's benefit.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The town's community chest helps support the local food bank and homeless shelter.
- Employees were encouraged to donate a portion of their salary to the community chest.
- Funds from the annual community chest drive will be allocated to youth programs this year.
Advanced Usage
- Historical Context: The term "Community Chest" was widely used in the 20th century, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom, as the name for local federations that coordinated fundraising for multiple charities. Many of these organizations later evolved into or were replaced by "United Way" organizations.
- In the mid-1900s, the Community Chest was a major source of funding for urban social programs.
Variants and Related Words
- United Way (n): A modern, large-scale nonprofit organization that functions similarly to a historical community chest, conducting annual workplace fundraising campaigns for a network of local health and human service agencies.
- Charitable fund (n): A general term for a pool of money dedicated to philanthropic purposes.
- Federated charity (n): An umbrella organization that raises money for a group of member charities.
Synonyms
- Charity fund: A fund established for benevolent purposes.
- Welfare fund: A fund dedicated to promoting the well-being of a group.
Related Phrases
- Community chest drive: The organized campaign to solicit donations for the community chest.
- The community chest drive begins every September.
- To contribute to the community chest: To donate money to this specific local fund.
- Many local businesses contribute to the community chest.
Related Idioms
Noun
-
a charity supported by individual subscriptions; defrays the demands on a community for social welfare
