Published: July 01, 2009 01:46 am      

United Way reaches goal thanks to fine efforts by many

The United Way of Marion County, struggling since last fall to make its $335,000 goal, came on strong at the finish to reach its target for the second year in a row.

It wasn’t easy.

But executive director Tiffany Walker never gave up. She came aboard the United Way ship in mid-stream last year and guided it to a successful conclusion. She did the same thing once again this year, thanks to some dedicated volunteers and local businesses and individuals who wanted to see the goal reached.

The director wishes to credit the efforts of many citizens who helped to guarantee the campaign would reach another successful conclusion.

One of the things that impressed the Times West Virginian was the fact that some of the donors who had already given came back in the final weeks and gave again — to ensure that the goal would be reached.

With support like that, how can you lose?

And it wasn’t a host of large corporations whose gifts made reaching the goal possible. She pointed out that the corps of donors had shifted from the large corporations to more individual giving. That doesn’t mean the sizable contributions from places like Allegheny Power are not appreciated. They certainly are. But there just aren’t that many Allegheny Powers to form the nucleus of the campaign as there have been in years past.

Throughout the campaign, Samuels attempted some innovative ideas and different strategies in her fundraising. Some worked. A few didn’t. But she was not afraid of trying new techniques to raise the necessary money.

She learned while attending the United Way’s national convention that agencies around the country were missing their goals by an average of 7 percent. Unfortunately, Marion County is sandwiched between larger counties that reached much higher goals in a much shorter period of time.

But Marion County still reached its 2009 United Way goal.

Campaign President Doug Nuzum said Tuesday “this is truly a celebration (and) a very good day for Marion County.”

That it was!

And it won’t be long now until the 2010 campaign gets under way.

As Nuzum said, there are still organizations out there that need help.