This year’s Chatham Kent United Way goal of $2,015,000 represents the first step in a five-year plan to get the charity’s fundraising level to the $2.5 million level said campaign co-chair Aimee June.
June said she was on the campaign fund distribution committee last year that really drove home the discrepancy between what funded agencies need and what was raised.
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Co-chair Kelly Bayda said the campaign will return to some “best practices” of the past and will feature a slightly different approach that will be revealed shortly.
“Our target is an ambitious but – we believe – achievable increase over last year’s $1.9 million.” said Bayda.
The campaign got a head start on the goal with the announcement of a $200,000 pledge from Union Gas.
Last year, Union Gas and its employees contributed more than $634,000, the largest amount in its history.
“At Union Gas, our employees thrive off of being involved in their communities. It brings them a sense of pride that they are helping their neighbours and friends,” said Steve Pardy of Union Gas.
“That commitment is unwavering, and leads us to support the United Way of Chatham-Kent and its programs that we believe help build an even more vibrant community.”
Bayda said the strength of the United Way cabinet would go a long way toward making that goal a reality.
The 2013 campaign raised $1.85 million, $350,000 short of its goal.
The United Way first topped the $2 million mark in 2004.
Bayda moved to Chatham in 2010 with her husband and two children. She relocated here to take a branch manager position with Bank of Montreal.
June is also a branch manager with Bank of Montreal, in Blenheim. She’s lived in Chatham-Kent for the past three and a half decades, is married and has two daughters.
For the past three years, June has volunteered for the United Way, two of which were with the fund distribution committee.
Bayda got involved with the local United Way two years ago and is a member of the women’s leadership council. She’s also assisted in the past two Amazing Race fundraisers, and was a member of the 2014 campaign cabinet.
