Last year, the United Way’s local campaign collected more than $400,000, reaching it’s goal.
FARMINGTON – With less then three weeks to go before the United Way’s 2004 local fund drive ends, just under half of the $425,000 goal has been raised.
Nancy Morgan, executive director of the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area, nevertheless remains optimistic.
As of Tuesday noon, $210,265.87 has rolled into the local United Way via individual contributions and workplace donations, aided in part to a generous donation by International Paper’s Androscoggin Mill in Jay, which chipped in $111,696.
For every dollar contributed by its employees through pay-roll deductions, IP matched it with 60 cents.
Last year, the United Way’s local campaign collected more than $400,000, reaching its goal with many of pledges coming in during the campaign’s final days.
This year, Morgan’s first as director, the agency raised the bar.
Even though time is running out, Morgan says she’s confident the goal can be met.
“At this point,” she said, “the numbers change hourly.”
A small portion of donations are made by individuals sending in checks. Most support comes from workplace campaigns that raise money through payroll deductions, or from corporate donations.
Morgan has a long list of workplaces that haven’t finished or reported what their employees have agreed to donate. “Everyone is trying to pick the best time to do their campaign,” she said. “I think in this economy, people are nervous about making a commitment to give.”
As the holidays get closer, she hopes people caught up in the spirit will decide to pledge.
With many companies having layoffs and some then rehiring, it’s a never-ending process for Morgan to sell the United Way. Many people who have been laid-off or have retired in the past year, she says, have been good solid United Way supporters.
When new people come along, she says, it’s her job to educate them about the importance of giving; 99.25 percent of the money raised goes directly into local communities.
Last year, $2,400 was sent in to the United Way parent agency. That money goes to allow UWTVA to use the parent agency’s logo and educational materials, among other things.
This past year, with the closing of Forster’s Inc. in Strong, where Morgan, the former human resources director there, led a campaign that raised about $10,000 each year, the UWTVA lost a seasoned contributor.
New area businesses like Synernet and Dyables are picking up the slack.
And to people who think their donation won’t matter because they only have $20 to give, Morgan points out that every little bit counts. The UWTVA gives to 25 member agency programs that serve upward of 14,000 people last year. Indirectly though, Morgan says that nearly everyone in the UW region benefits some way from her organization’s support of infants and seniors and everyone in between.
The campaign concludes Dec. 9. Morgan admits that by then, the $425,000 goal likely will not be reached. Pledges are accepted into early next year, though.
“I am still optimistic that we’ll be close to that goal. It’s a big one,” said Morgan. “If we are even at the same level as we were last year with everything that has happened in this county, I think the community has done a tremendous job.”
To contact the United Way of the Tri-Valley Area or to make a donation, call 778-5048, email at [email protected] or log onto www.uwtva.org.
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