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United Way Achieves Goal, Prepares New Initiatives
BOARDMAN, Ohio -- Programs to provide mentors for at-risk girls and to get books into the hands of young children are among initiatives the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley plans to launch this year.
The United Way announced Tuesday it has exceeded the $2.5 million goal for its 2013 campaign by $5,449. The press event was held at Window World, which sponsored incentive prizes for the campaign.
“It was a tough goal. It’s a lot of money to raise. It’s still very challenging out there,” said Bob Hannon, president of the United Way chapter. “Things are much better now than they were but it’s still very difficult.”
Among the new programs Hannon said the United Way chapter would launch this year is a mentoring program for girls age 12 to 14. The program will start in three area school districts with 25 girls in each district.
“This is a pilot to try to get these young women on the right track. We’re going to target women that probably could go either way in their life,” Hannon said. “We want to get them with a strong mentor. We want to teach them how to do the right things, even how to dress, how to work on a resume, how to do better academically.”
In April, the United Way will unveil “Imagination Library,” a program “to get a book into the hand of every child, birth to age 5,” by mail, Hannon said. It’s a program other United Ways have done that has proven successful in helping prepare children for school, he reported.
“We’re trying to fund programs that make long-term change,” Hannon continued. “There’s always going to be the emergency services and we’ve also designated more money the last three years to food, clothing, shelter, those basic needs.” Based on this year’s particularly rough winter, the agency is putting more money aside for emergency services, he said.
Hannon credits the community for its generosity and the efforts of the 2013 campaign chairwoman, Becky Wall, vice president of Dearing Compressor and Pump Co., Boardman, with reaching the goal.
“In the end, she stepped up in a big way,” Hannon said. “What I appreciate about Becky most of all is she’s in it for all the right reasons. She wants to make a difference. I think she feels blessed that her company is doing well. Now she wants to give back.”
Wall, who launched a United Way workplace campaign at Dearing a couple of years ago, acknowledged her employees, who in the past might have taken advantage of community programs funded by United Way, were “excited to pay back to the community. So it was very personal to them,” she remarked. She also challenged other area companies, regardless of size, to launch workplace campaigns.
“There’s nothing cookie-cutter about the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley,” Wall remarked. “Each year the campaign is different, but as a community of foundations and corporations and individual donors, we combine our efforts, we combine our gifts and we take care of thousands of people in the community.”
About half of the funds raised for this year’s campaign came from the workplace program, in which employees of participating companies have a donation regularly deducted from their paychecks. The largest program was conducted by the General Motors Lordstown Complex and United Auto Workers locals 1112 and 1714. Three years ago the workplace campaign contribution was at about 47% “so we’ve been bumping that up,” Hannon said.
“We think that’s out best opportunity to grow, and hopefully down the road we’ll be able to tap into some of the oil and gas,” he continued. Hannon also noted that Penn National Gaming Inc., which is building a racino in Austintown, already has given a corporate gift.
At the event, drawings were held for several incentives. Donors of $156 or more were eligible for the drawing. Rhonda M. Huff of Youngstown, a member of UAW 1112, won the $2,000 Travel Certificate from AAA. Robert McGaha of Campbell, another UAW 1112 member, won the $1,000 Giant Eagle GetGo gas card. Kevin Shingleton of Canfield, employed by Ohio Cat Co., won the $500 Dick’s Sporting Goods gift card.
“Incentives are great,” Hannon said. “It takes people from one level to another level sometimes.”
A drawingfwill take place Feb. 25 for a 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel donated by Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown for donors of $156 to the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley or United Way of Trumbull County.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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