United Way Officials Announce 2009 Campaign Goal.

2009 Campaign Chairman, Terry Myers, announces the 1.2 million dollar goal.

Monday evening, Campaign Chairman Terry Myers, President of ADM Alliance Nutrition and a team of division leaders announced the 2009 campaign goal of $1,200,000. “This team of division leaders has spent the past two months organizing a strong approach and setting a goal that will put more resources to work on the toughest problems in our community” said Myers. “We put this goal together by looking at all the parts of the campaign one at a time. The division leaders reviewed their accounts and set individual goals. As a group we determined that although a lower goal may be realistic, it would not convey to the community the urgency of the needs United Way and our partners are working to address. United Way is uniquely suited to respond to community needs and should focus on that role by emphasizing the success of United Way funded programs and the significant impact of the dollars raised and invested in the community. Therefore we all agreed to set an ambitious goal.”

Myers shared that the Pacesetter program raised over $124,000 and that Campaign leaders and United Way board members took a large step towards achieving the 1.2 million dollar goal by committing advance pledges totaling more than $35,000 and bringing the total amount raised to just over $159,000.

Myers closed the announcement by stating, “We know this year will be challenging, but we are confident that if participation in the community grows then we will reach our goal. We want to make sure everyone is offered the chance to help their community by investing in United Way.”

Earlier in the evening, Board President, Harry Marcionetti, shared specific examples of achievement during the last year in the focus areas of Education, Income and Health. In Education, United Way continues to fund the Academic Success Initiative. This initiative continues to involve nearly 10,000 children in every school across Adams County in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in an effort to improve attendance, graduation rate and ISAT scores while increasing parent involvement and reducing disciplinary referrals.

In the area of Income he cited the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program where volunteers prepared 316 tax returns saving working families over $30,000 in preparation fees. As a result, over $156,000 in Earned Income Credits were brought back into Adams County. In Health, he shared that a $30,500 investment from United Way helped secure $355,000 in free prescription medications through the MedAssist Prescription Drug Program and ultimately saved lives.

The United Way Campaign kicks off with Restaurant Days and will continue through the months of September and October. United Way will be making periodic reports to the community on progress an on the various activities taking place in local companies and organizations.

2009 United Way of Adams County Pacesetters:

INDUSTRIAL

1. ADM Alliance Nutrition   

COMMERCIAL

1. WGEM                              
2. Brown Drug                     

FINANCIAL

1. State Street Bank                 

PROFESSIONAL

1. Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell  
2. Scholz, Loos Palmer, Siebers & Duesterhaus  

PUBLIC SERVICE

1. Blessing Health System 

UNITED WAY LEADERSHIP

1. UW Board Members
2. Campaign Division Leaders       

For more information please contact the United Way office at 217.222.5020