|
United Way tops $1 million goal
Nov 21, 2009 (Republican and Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN -- Battered women, hungry children and many other Schuylkill County citizens who need help will get it as Schuylkill United Way announced Friday it had exceeded its $1 million fundraising goal.
"This is a beautiful day, it's even more beautiful now," 2010 Campaign Chairman Michael Tobash said before about 100 cheering people at the appreciation breakfast at Penn State Schuylkill, revealing that the county United Way had raised $1,030,000 for its 15 member agencies.
"This number is more than this campaign has ever raised before," he said.
That total includes $145,967, which is 22 percent more than the $120,000 goal, raised by the Tamaqua Area part of the campaign.
"The dedicated, hard-working volunteers made it very easy," Tamaqua Area Campaign Chairman Allen Keich said. Tobash said overcoming the poor economy made achieving the goal even more significant for everyone in Schuylkill County.
"The goal is important for us to hit," he said. "Whatever money we raise is a victory."
Leaders of the 15 agencies that will receive money from the campaign were equally delighted with the amount raised.
"It means it expands the number of kids we can serve here in Schuylkill County. We do that by our school-based mentoring program," said Doug Allen, executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Schuylkill County Inc.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters might be able to expand the number of volunteers it uses, the number of youngsters it serves and the number of schools in the mentoring program as a result of the United Way's success, Allen said.
"When they're successful, we're successful," he said.
Sarah T. "Sally" Casey, executive director of Schuylkill Women in Crisis, said her organization also welcomes the campaign's success, since it might allow it to maintain its current level of service.
"We're thrilled. It's been a difficult year economically," Casey said. "We were holding our breath. This will enable us to keep doing what we do, which is comprehensive, often life-saving, services to victims of domestic violence."
Keys to the United Way's success included the largest segment, $418,348 in gifts from the industrial division, and $283,000 from 320 pledges by members of the Pacesetters Club, which consists of people who contribute at least $500 to the campaign.
Schuylkill United Way also took time to honor Jack Bertolet Jr., its president, and Jim Donovan, a retiring member of the board of directors. The group gave the Clare Houser Award to Wegmans for its employee campaign that raised the most money and awarded several prizes to individual campaign donors.
Kelly K. Malone, executive director of Schuylkill United Way, said the achievement of the goal matters to everyone in the county.
"It absolutely showed our community, employees, corporations and individuals pulled together to support our 15 agencies once again," Malone said. "It means more people will be served. In this economy, there are more people than ever that need to be served."These are the winners, and their employers, of the prizes offered by Schuylkill United Way:
Cal Ingram, Big Lots! Inc.; 2010 Volkswagen Jetta
Diane Bogdan, Blue Mountain School District; $2,500 Boyer's Food Markets Inc. gift certificate
Parker Patterson, Broad Mountain Partners; $1,500 Boyer's Food Markets Inc. gift certificate
Tom Twardzik, Mrs. T's; $2,000 Walmart gift certificate
J.T. Martin, Sapa; $1,600 Lowe's home improvement package
Tina Light-Dengler, Jeld Wen; $1,600 AAA Travel vacation package
Mark Henderson, Wegmans; $1,000 Big Lots! Inc. gift certificate
Jason Michalik, Ti Wire; $500 Hadesty's Weber gas grill
Cindy Borchick, Schuylkill YMCA; $500 M & S True Value Hardware Gravely lawn mower
To see more of the Republican & Herald or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.republicanherald.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Republican and Herald,
Pottsville, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Activate Email 
TMCnet LOGIN
Find Solutions for Enterprises, SMBs & Service Providers at the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO West, October 4-6, 2010. Los Angeles, CA.
