United Way annual campaign "united more than ever" raises $6 million so far
United more than ever was the rallying call at this year’s United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades annual campaign kickoff following Hurricane Ian.
The annual event was held Wednesday at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on the Florida SouthWestern State College campus in Fort Myers. The hall was packed with applauding attendees and sponsors like Publix Super Markets and Scanlon Auto Group.
The campaign has raised $6 million for the local communities so far. This year, organizers set a goal of $11 million.
“We’ve raised just over $6 million, which is 53.7% of our overall goal, which is fantastic,” said Jeannine Joy, president and CEO of United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades. “We already know where the dollars should be allocated. We will start paying those dollars out in January, even though we haven’t quite made our goal yet. Hopefully by April, beginning of May we will be able to announce that we can fully fund all of our partner agencies.”
Joy said volunteers decided over the summer where the money is most needed.
“We give to organizations like Children's Advocacy Center, Abuse Counseling and Treatment, Inc. (ACT),” said Joy. “We also have partners like Family Initiative that helps families with children on the autism spectrum. There are over 260 programs that we will be able to help with these dollars.”
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The funds go to help local communities through the use of partner agencies and initiatives. These include organizations like Harry Chapin Food Bank, United Way 211, Boys and Girls Clubs, and others.
Joy said the Southwest Florida community rallied together following the devastation Hurricane Ian left behind.
“There's a lot of hard work that needs to be done in our community,” said Joy. “And we are all up for it together. Over 15,000 volunteer hours have been tracked by the United Way so far. And that's probably just scratching the surface. So many of you came forward even after your own homes were destroyed. We can’t get through this alone. So I tell my staff, it's one person at a time, it's one family at a time, it's one community at a time and step by step. Day by day, week by week. Our community will recover.”
Campaign chairs Sally Jackson and Matt Humphreys highlighted what an honor and thrill it was to chair the campaign.
“Our cabinet represents all phases of our economy, business sectors, industry and government,” said Jackson. “All of the agencies that are so much a part of the network in our community and individual residential communities as well. We have a very generous community and our leaders reach out to all of them and keep them engaged as a part of our cabinet.”
Jackson said collaboration is key.
“For many years the United Way through the allocations process has asked every agency to share how they collaborate,” said Jackson. “And now we have a long list of agencies that are collaborating together. I believe this question has prompted agencies to think about how they do their work differently to meet the needs in the community through collaboration. Hurricane Ian certainly intensified the need for collaboration.”
This year, there were 222 "pacesetters," businesses or organizations that have already set up their campaigns to raise money for the agency.
The top 8 pacesetters and how much they've raised:
Publix Super Markets 2021 - $1,100,000
Bonita Bay Group - $696,924
Carol Beesley’s Beesley’s Paw Prints - $278,000
FineMark National Bank & Trust - $215,000
LCEC - $200,000
Lee Health - $184,255
Lee Board of County Commissioners - $159,630
O’Donnell Landscaping, Inc. - $112,500
United Way of Lee, Hendry, Glades and Okeechobee has raised and distributed $198 million since its inception back in 1957.
Erica Van Buren is the underserved communities reporter for The News-Press and Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on Twitter: @EricaVanBuren32
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades raises $6 million so far
