Michelle Sharp and Judy Falk from Marion General Hospital and Barbara Beebe from Marion Area Physicians
The United Way of Marion County’s 77th annual campaign officially kicked off on Thursday, September 19th. The event, in conjunction with Marion Area Chamber’s Business After Hours, was hosted by Peltier Chiropractic. The theme for the campaign is “UN1TE: It takes just one person to change one life. Be the ONE.”
United Way 2013 Campaign Chair, Dan Wigton, announced that the organization had set a goal of $1,000,000, which will be used to support 19 local agencies who provide 33 different programs in the areas of education, income, health, and safety net.
“All of us want to make Marion a thriving community, where we can raise our kids in a healthy environment, get good jobs and lead good lives,” explained Pam Stone, Executive Director. “As a means to make those changes through long-term improvements in education, income and health, we must have funding to invest.”
The 2013 Pacesetter companies and businesses – Marion Area Physicians, The Ohio State University at Marion, and United Bank – all had representatives at the event.
Assisting Campaign Chair, Dan Wigton, is Diane Watson, who is serving as Vice Chair. Others acting as division leaders are Troy Ruehrmund, Chris Hord, Charlie Long, Amy Ulbrich, Del Duffy, Steve Badertscher, and Diane Glassmeyer.
Dan Wigton, 2013 Campaign Chair for United Way of Marion County
Wigton noted that “Any donation, whatever the dollar amount, is needed and appreciated. Many automatically give at the same level every year. This year, especially, I want to encourage people to consider increasing their contribution.”
Pam Stone added, “But it takes more than money to build a better community. It takes people who care.”
United Way Campaign & Marketing Manager, Kelly Garrett noted, “People want to be a part of the great work that United Way gets to do every day with its Agency Partners. That’s why we created the Unity in Community days of service. The first one kicked off last week with some local businesses who gave their employees an opportunity to volunteer at United Way agencies. We’ll be hosting the second event this Saturday with the faith-based community.”
Michelle Sharp from Marion General Hospital and Steve Conway from Nucor spoke about the volunteer experiences their employees participated in. Conway shared “It felt nice to get out into the community – to give back to it and be an active part of it. That’s a part of Nucor’s culture.”
United Way’s campaign continues with events at Scioto Shoe Mart, the Buffalo Wild Wings Wing-Eating Contest at Grant Middle School, and the Halloween Boo-Tacular at bluefusion entertainment.
For more information on the United Way of Marion County, please call (740) 383-3108 or visit www.unitedwaymarion.org.
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