Centre County United Way’s 2019 campaign raised $1,747,158, the organization announced at its annual celebration on Tuesday night.
More than 100 board members, volunteers, and representatives of partner agencies and Penn State gathered at Toftrees to learn and celebrate the results, which were unveiled by honorary campaign chair Jeff Brown.
“I learned so much during this campaign. I have a better understanding of what the partner agencies are doing every day to help our neighbors. I also discovered that running the CCUW Campaign takes a team effort,” Brown said.
Penn State’s campaign raised $718,735, 41 percent of the total. For more than 40 years, the university has designated Centre County United Way as its charity of choice and its campus-wide campaign has grown to include special fundraising events such as Trash to Treasure, as well as individual unit and employee efforts. Employees can opt to have pledges made through payroll deductions.
“A lot of great things happened on campus and we are proud of the time and talent our staff put into this year’s campaign,” said David Gray, senior vice president for finance and business, who also thanked director of campus and community events Barb Ettaro for her years of dedication to the United Way campaign.
CCUW will begin the process of allocating the money raised to 28 partner agencies in late March.
Community volunteers serve on panels of six that visit with agencies and learn about the services they provide to the community, their finances and the outcomes being measured. Each panel makes recommendations for the level of funding the programs should receive, which are then presented to the CCUW board for approval.
“Every dollar we raise is important to the partner agencies,’ Brown said. ‘They can not keep vital programs up and running without the support of our community.”
Wendy Vinhage, who is in her first year as CCUW executive director, credited the community of volunteers and supporters for raising the funds to sustain partner agencies and their work to provide education, financial stability, basic needs, good health and strong support systems throughout the county.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t extend my appreciation and gratitude to all of our donors, volunteers, board members and partner agencies. We wouldn’t be here tonight without you,” Vinhage said.
