SIDNEY — Division campaign goals were exceeded during the 2016 Shelby County United Way campaign. The campaign theme was “Be the One.”
During the finale luncheon held Thursday at the American Legion, Scott Barr, executive director, said the campaign is nearing the overall goal for the year.
“This was a successful campaign,” said Barr. “We live in a generous committee.”
The campaign goal was $1,325,000, Barr said. As of Thursday, the projected total was $1,311,964. He said two additional companies are planning campaigns and those figures weren’t figured in the final amounts. The campaign thus far is at almost 99 percent of the goal for the year.
Barr presented goals and actual monies raised for each division in the campaign.
In the special projects division, the campaign goal was set at $42,000. The division raised $48,030. Jayne Smith was the chair, which included the retirees division and Cornerstone Society Leadership Giving Division.
For the education division which includes Sidney City Schools and all the county schools, the goal was set at $55,000. The actual amount raised/pledged was $57,327. Barr said Heather O’Donnell, who oversees the county school campaign, has been a division leader for 10 years. Also, Sidney City Schools raised the second highest amount in the campaign’s history. Tiffany Rank was the co-chair and oversaw the Sidney city schools campaign. Assisting O’Donnell was Amy Simindinger.
The nonprofit division, which had a goal of $17,000, raised $20,940. The chair was Nancy Stiefel.
“This is a rough division,” said Barr. “The amount raised is above the original goal for the last three years.”
The public employee division, which includes the city of Sidney and all county employees, saw records set for both groups. The goal was $28,000 and $33,440 was raised/pledged. Kelly Holthaus was the chair for the city of Sidney employees campaign. the county public service division was chaired by Kathy Lindsey and Bob Guillozet.
In the retail division, the goal was $20,000. The final amount raised was $22,066. It was co-chaired by Jackie Davis and Mike Phillips.
The goal for the service division was $210,000, said Barr. The actual money raised was $215,355. The division, said Barr, was a little more challenging than usual. The division was chaired by Mark and Sandi Shipman.
In the health care division, which includes Wilson Health, nursing homes physicians and eye doctors, the goal was $51,000. The actual amount raised was $51,989. Jenny Huelskamp and David Andrick were division co-chairs.
In the professional division, a total of $59,523 was raised, almost $5,000 more than the goal of $55,000. Aaron Lowe was the division chair.
A new facet of the campaign was the addition of county ambassadors who helped get the word out about the campaign.
“I’m not sure we’d be where we’re at without the county ambassadors,” said Barr. “This division (small manufacturing) really benefited from it.
The goal for small manufacturing was $25,000. A total of $34,059 was raised. The division leader was Jason Wagner.
The large manufacturing division was a challenge this year, said Barr. It was a challenge division leader Kurt Barhorst, who was assisted by Tim Bickel, had expected. The goal was $822,000, said Barr. The campaign reached $664,315 but it’s projected that the amount will actually be $764,315.
“They did a fantastic job,” said Barr. “We’re expecting the total to go up a little bit.”
Lois Ann Kerns, director of finance and administration for the United Way, coordinated all the internal activities for the campaign.
The campaign chair for the year was Shelly Ginter.
“When Scott asked my to be the chair, took a step back and said ‘oh, my,’” said Ginter. “Last year was a successful year. I was excited and anxious to meet new people.”
Because of a personal situation, Ginter wasn’t able to interact with people in the community as much as she wanted to.
“I’d like to thank you for all you do,” said Ginter. “It takes all of us to make this happen.”
Outgoing president Joshua Koltak recognized Mary Moyer, Devin Beer and Joshua Ross who were all completing their term on the board of trustees. they had all joined the board in January 2011.
