In what officials say will be a challenging year, the United Way of the Flint Hills began its fundraising activities Thursday afternoon with the kickoff of the 2009 Pacesetter Campaign at Flint Hills Technical College.
Pacesetter chairman Dean Hollenbeck, president of the tech college, said this year will be a time to try to do more than in the past because of the difficult economic situation many are facing.
“This year particularly will be a challenge for us but as we get out and work the community, we’ll be hoping that everybody really sees that there’s some need here, and maybe more than in the past,” Hollenbeck said.
Participating Pacesetter companies conduct their campaigns among employees before the regular campaign takes place. United Way of the Flint Hills Director Jami Reever said businesses this year are being encouraged to find new ways to invite participation. The United Way this year will ask people to be as generous as they can, Reever said, and even to try to do a little more than they did last year.
“I think one of the key things to reaching our goal is to increase participation,” Reever said. “We need everyone who donated last year to continue to be generous, and we need new donors. In terms of individual workplace campaigns, we’re really encouraging businesses to continue to have a unique approach. We want them to make their campaigns exciting, to think of other ways to raise money in addition to just a straight gift.”
Reever mentioned activities like dress-down days and penny wars as different approaches companies can take.
“One of the things about the Pacesetters is that they raise about 60 percent of the dollars that the whole campaign makes,” Hollenbeck said. “So this is a really big deal for us right now. Sixty percent is a big deal.”
About 40 United Way supporters gathered for the kickoff, a crowd Hollenbeck found encouraging.
“It is a time for us to take a step back and look at what the needs are,” Hollenbeck said. “We’re going to try to do more than in the past because there’s more need out there, so it’s going to be a challenging time, to say the least. But I know we’ve got lots of good people and good representatives who support the United Way in all of its efforts and we’re going to do the best we can. I believe we’ll be successful.”