DAYTONA BEACH -- If it weren't for the financial support she receives from the Greater Daytona Beach YMCA, Cora McCoy could not afford an after-school program for her children.

For the past four years, the Daytona Beach mother of two has been getting a scholarship to help offset 50 percent of the cost to enroll her children in a YMCA after-school program.

She pays $120 a month so her children, Faith Johnson, 5, and Jerry Johnson, 9, can play sports, participate in arts-and-crafts activities and do their homework with tutors while she works at a Daytona resort.

"I work, so that is less stress on me -- not worrying about what my kids are doing," said McCoy, 46. "I don't want to leave them alone ever."

The Greater Daytona Beach YMCA will be able to offer more scholarships to needy families this year because it was one of 26 social-service nonprofit organizations in Volusia and Flagler counties that received an increase in United Way funding for fiscal year 2005-06, agency officials announced Thursday.

Overall, the United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties' board of directors decided this week to distribute $2.2 million to 47 nonprofits in both counties for the next fiscal year. The amount doled out this year is $50,000 more than what the agency distributed to its 49 beneficiaries for fiscal year 2004-05.

The extra cash resulted from the $3.65 million raised during the United Way's 2004 fund-raising campaign, which began in July and was extended to March because of last year's hurricanes. During the 2003 campaign, which ran from July to December, the agency raised $3.35 million.

Despite the business closures and layoffs caused by hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne, the United Way was able to raise more money during its 2004 campaign because its core donors -- service-level workers -- reached deep into their pocketbooks, said United Way President Ray Salazar.

"The people that were at the table gave more," Salazar said. The fund-raising campaign "was hard work."

Most of what the United Way raises is used to fund nonprofits, but a portion is used for operational cost and payroll.

Because so many organizations compete for the agency's cash, several factors are calculated to determine how much money to give each nonprofit. The formula includes rating an agency's hierarchy of needs, combined with a scoring system based on certain criteria, including how essential a program is and how well the nonprofit has performed.

The United Way considers high-priority organizations as those that provide basic needs, such as food, clothing and emergency shelter. Low-priority groups provide prevention, education and recreational services.

Of the 26 organizations that saw their funding increase, the ones that received the biggest financial boost were, by definition, high-priority organizations.

The Second Harvest Food Bank, an Orlando-based organization that distributes food to other nonprofits throughout Central Florida, got a 32.6 percent funding increase for fiscal 2005-06. The food bank, which distributes food and toiletries to 87 nonprofits in Volusia County, will get $20,352 for the upcoming fiscal year, compared with $15,352 for fiscal 2004-05.

The extra money "will help us feed a lot more people," said Dave Krepcho, the organization's executive director.

Krepcho said the money will help the food bank distribute 2 million pounds of food in Volusia County during the current fiscal year. The amount of food is an increase from the 1.6 million pounds the organization gave its Volusia beneficiaries in fiscal year 2003-04.

Another high-priority agency, the Children's Advocacy Center, received the biggest funding increase for the next fiscal year. The nonprofit, based in Daytona Beach, will receive $122,862 for fiscal 2005-06, up 54.1 percent from $79,711 for fiscal year 2004-05.

The lump-sum increase was largely a result of the nonprofit's decision to deliver services once provided by the now-defunct Rape Crisis Center. The Children's Advocacy Center provides rape exams, in addition to its other functions, which include gathering evidence for child-abuse cases for the state Department of Children & Families and the State Attorney's Office.

Maryann Barry, the nonprofit's chief executive officer, said it would have been difficult to continue the Rape Crisis Center's services without the funding boost.

Sexual-assault services are "very, very necessary" but not "inexpensive," Barry said.