“We’re celebrating our successes,” said Ben Vollrath, Chair of the United Way of Union County annual campaign.
That summed up the mood at last week’s LIVE UNITED Awards, held Wednesday at Union Rural Electric in Marysville. A crowd of over 115 United Way Workplace Champions was saluted for helping to raise over $960,000 for the Union County community. That was 94% of the organization’s $1,020,000 goal for 2015-16. Campaign dollars raised are then allocated to the 26 Partner Agencies alongside 40 programs that United Way funds throughout Union County.
“When neighbors are down and out, we’ll help lift them back up, and this is what Union County AND United Way are all about,” Vollrath said. “You are involved in something greater than yourself. You will never meet most of the people who you are helping through your fundraising work. You will never hear all of their stories. You will not know the true impact of what you’ve done. But this is the group that makes it happen.”
Donor dollars from this year’s United Way campaign are reaching six area pantries, two shelters, four senior centers, an after-school youth center, a homeless prevention program, rent and utility assistance, disaster relief, prescription medication, hospice care, cancer support, youth activities, and more. In all, 40 programs of 26 Funded Partners are receiving United Way support.
Other successes noted were the addition of a new campaign kick-off experience – the Funded Partner Agency Tour – that allowed participants to visit four of the Partner Agencies and hear about almost 16 others. In addition, over a quarter of the workplace campaigns showed significant growth during this year’s campaign, with the percentages of participating employees at the workplaces continuing to grow. Special Events continue to bolster the United Way campaign totals – top sponsor events generated $53,000 (All-Ohio Balloon Fest, Online Auction, the Honor Our Heroes Quarter Marathon and 5K, and the LIVE UNITED Radiothon on True Oldies 1270).
Almost 60 businesses were awarded with a 2015 LIVE UNITED Award, once again demonstrating the community’s continual support of United Way and its mission.
The 2015 Campaign Chair Award, United Way’s top honor given to the most outstanding workplace, was presented to Nationwide. Nationwide had a tremendous campaign this year, raising over $107,212, up almost 17% over last year. Receiving the award for their company were volunteers United Way Board of Trustees President Sherri Coleman, Board Vice President Scott Failor and Publicity & Community Care Day Committees member Christina McDermott, as well as Chad Jester, Vice President of Nationwide Corporate Citizenship and James Gaddy Jr, Assistant Vice President of Corporate Citizenship.
Thirty-one workplaces earned a Gold Campaign Award for giving levels achieved this fall. These workplaces have 40% of their employees giving to United Way, have an average employee gift of $150 or more, or provide a 100% corporate match. These include: Allen Yurasek Merklin & Owens-Ruff; Cannizzaro Bridges Jillisky & Streng; City of Marysville; Conrad Leibold Woerner & Company; Conti-Tech; Dayton Power & Light; Fairbanks Schools; Honda Lock R&D; Honda of America; Liberty National Bank; Loving Care Hospice; Maryhaven; Marysville Public Library; Marysville Schools; McCarthy & Cox; Memorial Health; Mental Health & Recovery Board; Nestle Product Technology Center; Parker; Richwood Banking Company; Scotts Miracle-Gro; Select Sires; Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems; TECHnology Site Planners; Union County Board of Developmental Disabilities; Union County Department of Job & Family Services; Union County Family YMCA; Union County Health Department; Union County Prosecutor’s Office; Union County Sheriff’s Office and Union Rural Electric.
Three workplaces earned a Silver Campaign Award for having 30% participation or an average employee gift of $100. These include: Tolles Career & Technical Center; Union County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor’s Bureau and the Union County Engineer’s Department.
Jonathan Alder Schools; Meijer and North Union Local Schools earned Bronze Campaign Awards for having 20% participation or an average employee gift of $52.
Seventeen entities earned Good Neighbor Awards for participating with United Way on special projects throughout the year. These include: Adecco; Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar; Central Ohio Youth Center; Early College High School Student Council; E-Marysville.Com; Interim Health Care; Jerome Village Company; Keller Williams Realty; LeCrone Communications; Mailings by Brooke; Parrott Implement; St. John’s Lutheran Church & School; Techknowlogic; The Marysville Journal-Tribune; True Oldies 1270; Union County Foundation and WalMart.
United Way’s annual awards luncheon was celebrated at Union Rural Electric with the corporate support of Adecco; Alan Wilson CPA; Dayton Power & Light; Honda of America; Interim Health Care; Liberty National Bank; Memorial Health and Union County Foundation, ensuring that no donor dollars were spent on the recognition event.
United Way works to bring neighbors and resources together to improve lives in Union County. United Way of Union County has raised more than $20 million for local needs since it was established in 1958. More than just a fundraiser, United Way collaborates with local businesses, government, and non-profit organizations to solve pressing social service issues large and small.
For more information, please visit www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org.
United Way presents Nationwide with the Campaign Chair Award, United Way’s highest distinction of honor, for its workplace campaign achievements during the 2015-16 campaign. Nationwide associates contributed over $107,000 to the annual United Way Campaign for Union County. Pictured from left to right: Chad Jester, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at Nationwide; Scott Failor, United Way Board of Trustees Vice President and Senior Vice President of Property/Casualty Legal at Nationwide; Sherri Coleman, United Way Board of Trustees President and Team Leader at Nationwide; Christina McDermott, United Way Volunteer and IT Specialist at Nationwide; James Gaddy, Jr., Assistant Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at Nationwide, and Ben Vollrath, 2015 Campaign Chair for United Way of Union County.
