The United Way of the Flint Hills campaign wasn’t just successful this year; it was monumentally successful.
The drive exceeded its $610,000 goal with a record-setting total of more than $617,000 collected or pledged to the organization and the agencies it helps support.
Drive chairman Larie Schoap announced the good news at noon today during the United Way’s victory luncheon and annual meeting at the Colonial Ballroom of the Memorial Union at Emporia State University. The theme for the year’s campaign was “Together We Matter,” and it became obvious that was so.
Just a few days ago, it seemed the event would be a near-victory luncheon.
Schoap had prepared a good speech to thank volunteers for their hard work and to congratulate them for coming close to the drive’s ambitious goal, which was $10,000 more than in 2006. Then UW Executive Director Duane Dreiling called to say that money had been pouring into the office at the last minute.
“Just a couple of days ago, we received a very nice check from the Lewis B. Humphrey Trust,” Schoap said. “We also got some very large checks at the very end.”
The drive had begun aggressively when the Pacesetters’ early campaign collected $25,000 more than its goal.
Those companies build the foundation for the drive before the campaign formally begins and they usually contribute well over 50 percent of the goal, Schoap said.
The Pacesetters are Agler & Gaeddert, Bank of America, Camoplast, Detroit Diesel, Emporia’s Radio Stations, ESB Financial, Fanestil Meats, Glendo, JCPenney, John North Ford, Kansas Gas Service, Longbine Auto Plaza, Lyon County State Bank, The Medicine Shoppe, Mental Health Center, Modern Air Conditioning, Navrat’s Office Products, Newman Regional Health, Roberts-Blue-Barnett, Sauder Custom Fabrications, Tyson, UPS, USD 253, Wal-Mart, Westar Energy, and Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp.
“Other individual companies set their own goals,” she said, and they too succeeded.
Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College, Dillons, AT&T, Hopkins Manufacturing, CoreFirst Bank, First Community Bank and the City of Emporia were among the other entities that greatly exceeded their own giving levels from past years.
“We had several companies that did 100 percent participation again,” she said. “That says a lot for those companies.”
That money, plus other packets and contributions, pushed last week’s $585,000 total well over the top.
Those contributions made a significant difference in the drive outcome, but Schoap said that without the individuals who made contributions or fair-share pledges, the goal would not have been reached.
“Every single individual that contributed to this campaign contributed to the success of this drive,” she said earlier today before telling the luncheon audience, “As grateful as we are for those funds, and we are very grateful, I want to be sure that all of you who have contributed know how much each of your individual donations are appreciated.”
Schoap credited “the community, and how they have this charitable thinking process. The community comes forward and supports all its people.”
During the meeting, the group honored outgoing board members Jeff Longbine, Jeanine McKenna, Bill North and Schoap, and board of trustees chairman Jeannell Tebbetts, and announced next year’s drive chairman, Connie Cahoone and 2008 board chairperson Jaryl Perkins.
The success of the drive made today’s celebration a memorable one. A screen was set up in the ballroom to flash “$617,000” repeatedly, while fireworks burst in the background of the screen and UW volunteers shot off party poppers.
Schoap had surprised the UW board last summer when she asked that the 2007 goal be set at $610,000. The $600,000 goal the previous year had brought in $604,300.
“Larie came to the board of directors and said she wanted to set an ambitious goal this year,” Dreiling said.
The board approved. And the requests for funding that came in from participating agencies still is $85,000 more than the drive has brought in to date.
How the money will be divided will be decided later.
“The United Way has moved to post-campaign allocations,” Dreiling said. “... The community investment committee will begin the work next week of reviewing those requests.”
The decisions will be based on five criteria:
• Strengthening and supporting families.
• Helping children and youth succeed.
• Promoting self-sufficiency.
• Building vital and safe neighborhoods.
• Supporting vulnerable and aging populations.
kansasgirl (anonymous) says...
Gotta LOVE the generosity of the people in Emporia and the surrounding areas. That's the kind of people I brag about. Keep up the good work. Hope the money stays in the area.
January 9, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gr8ggogli (anonymous) says...
I think most of the money has to stay in the area, but I'm not sure how much gets kicked up to the regional and/or national levels.
They don't tell us that.
They also don't mention how much of the total will be used for "overhead".
I agree the people here are marvelously generous, but their generosity would go farther if they donated directly to the agencies instead of having their funds filter through United Way.
January 10, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
grG stop by the UW office. That info is available. Nothing to hide
January 10, 2008 at 3:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
truman (anonymous) says...
Great job! All of the agencies will benefit from the generosity of the people in the entire community. Congratulations to Larie Schoap and her cabinet. Your leadership and commitment throughout the drive demonstrated the type of dedication necessary for a successful campaign.
January 10, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksfarmer (anonymous) says...
Isn't Dreiling's salary $50K? That's a big chunk of overhead in my opinion.
January 10, 2008 at 11:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Joe_Strummer (anonymous) says...
ksfarmer.....The United Way director makes $50,000 a year?
If that is true, then it's a bargain. 50K is far from a large salary these days. Especially for the director of anything. It's obvious from this past season that Dreiling's more than earned his salary.
Sure, you could plug someone into that position and pay em' $10 or $12 an hour, but that's also more than likely the quality of results you would see coming out of that position.
The UW has a record setting year, and all some people can do is whine about the director's salary.
Almost forgot.......Good job Emporia!! Good job United Way!!
January 11, 2008 at 2 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gr8ggogli (anonymous) says...
admireed:
If that info is available, why isn't it in the Gazette?
January 12, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
gr8...it is published. The Gazette does a good job of covering United Way meetings and board actions.
January 12, 2008 at 6:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gr8ggogli (anonymous) says...
Really? I've tried doing searches on this very website and can't find anything that specifies how much each agency gets, or what their overhead costs are and how they break down. I've been on Guidestar and seen the UWFH 990s, but that doesn't tell me which agencies got how much money.
Is there a different search term I should be using to find the meetings and board actions? I'm just putting in "United Way".
January 13, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
gr8 I stand corrected. You are right. The Gazette had not published the amounts per agency recently. Another of those "assume" moments!
January 17, 2008 at 3:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )