By Doug Donovan
Washington–United Way executives from across the country gathered near the Capitol on Wednesday morning in an attempt to show Congress how communities as politically different as Georgia and Pennsylvania or Illinois and South Carolina manage to work together to tackle issues.
Standing in a chilly wind swirling around the Capitol and Congressional offices, nearly 50 United Way leaders then spent the day meeting with elected officials to urge them to end the nine-day government shutdown that this week will begin to cut off food to low-income mothers and their babies when the federal Women, Infants and Children food program runs out of money.