MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — For those counting, the fundraising campaign for the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties exceeded this year’s goal by more than $30,000.
According to campaign chairman Chad Prather, the final tally after months of collections was $1,581,550.
Prather told WAJR’s Morgantown AM he knows for a fact the number of people who count on the services that can be provided with that money.
“Last year, just looking at the raw numbers, over 30,000 people were helped with the money we raised. It’s going to help a lot of different programs across a lot of agencies and helps a wide range of people,” he noted.
The United Way supports 27 agencies in both counties. Among the agencies, there are 52 programs or services for residents.
For instance, the money helps pay for weekend food packs sent home with some school students at the end of the week.
Health agencies use the money to help fill more than 30,000 prescriptions for people with little or no health insurance.
A $5.00 donation helps pay for a single meal for two people. Donations of $20.00 cover the cost of 2 boxes of glucose test strips for diabetics. Four seniors can be provided with transportation to medical appointments with a $100 donation.
“The generosity of this community is tremendous. As we continue to grow as a community, the need continues to grow. Year after year, people really step up and we can’t thank them enough,” Prather added.
More than 104 workplace campaigns participated including 4,500 individual donors.
“A tremendous number of the companies that run workplace campaigns set record years. The result at the end wasn’t surprising when you see that kind of momentum throughout the campaign,” Prather said.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals reported over $401,000 raised by their employees. West Virginia University collected over $301,425. WVU Medicine reported raising more than $206,000.
Other companies reporting included First Energy at $92,526, Mon Health System with over $60,000, Monongalia County Schools with $39,800, KeyLogic Systems at $28,186, and Huntington Banks with $28,500.