There were a lot of sevens, but no nine.
With a $1.9-million goal this year, the United Way of Chatham-Kent announced Friday morning the campaign raised $1,707,707, nearly $200,000 short of its goal.
Tom Slager, Director of Resource Development for the United Way Chatham-Kent, thanked the community for its support.
“It takes thousands of people to make this work. We really appreciate how so many people stepped up and made this happen,” he said of the campaign.
Despite falling short, Slager said he was very proud of the campaign team and proud of the dollars raised.
“It is what it is. We worked really hard and faced some big challenges,” he said, declining to go into specifics. “Things can change. Sometimes you know those changes are going to happen and you can plan for them. But when you don’t, you can’t. We just had some unforeseeable things happen.”
The campaign touchdown took place Jan. 20 at the Links of Kent at a breakfast meeting, sponsored by Advanced Realty Solutions, Ross Insurance Brokers Inc., and 94.3 CKSY.
Slager credits co-chairs Patricia Wright and Steve Pratt for doing a great job leading this year’s campaign.
“They were amazing. A bond formed between them during the campaign. They could split up and divide and conquer. They had complete trust in one another,” he said. “They were fantastic, inspiring people to be around in the campaign.”
Wright was happy to be involved.
“It was an honour to be a part of the United Way campaign. I am very proud of what our community was able to accomplish, thanks to an amazing team effort,” Wright said. “It was an incredible experience and it really opens your eyes to the hardships people in our community face each and every day. I also realize how lucky we are to have organizations like the United Way making a difference in the lives of the people living right here in Chatham-Kent.”
Wright and Pratt both received assistance from the United Way and member organizations at points in their lives. Wright said he appreciates the opportunity to give back.
“If I had to sum up the 2016 campaign with one word, it would be ‘gratitude’ – gratitude for the countless volunteers who donated their time to serve on our campaign cabinet, running a workplace campaign or a special event; gratitude for the courageous individuals who came forward and shared their deeply personal stories with strangers, family, friends, co-workers and neighbours to help them understand the real impact donors make on the lives of the recipients of their contributions; and most importantly, gratitude for everyone who chose to invest their hard-earned dollars to support the children, individuals and families who may need to access United Way’s funded programs and services in 2017,” he said.
The money raised by the campaign will start being distributed locally almost immediately. United Way volunteers will review funding applications and make recommendations to the United Way Board of Directors in the coming weeks.
For Slager, the work never really stops. He said the perception was that once the campaign ends, there was about six months in down time.
“In reality, the campaign gets us the most attention, but there is just as much work going on with the delivery of services and review of the funding,” he said. “We also go through every single thing that happened in the campaign and review them to see what can be done better.”
