United Way Community Campaign hits halfway mark
Posted Oct 27, 2011 06:22:33 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – The United Way’s 2011 Community Campaign hit the halfway mark Thursday and organizers said donations are just over 50 per cent of the $33.5M goal.
And while $16.9 M is a higher dollar figure than what the charity had raised at this point of the 2010 campaign, President and CEO Michael Allen told 1310News they’re not as far along as they were in terms of the percentage of the goal.
“Last year at this time we were just slightly ahead at 58.6 per cent but less in dollars. So we’re tracking well but the second half of the campaign is always the most difficult.”
To make sure the donations come in many events are still ahead including a teleblitz later in November and the recognition night with the Ottawa Senators among many others.
And while you see the thermometers around town you may be wondering just what your donations will do, something Allen said many people wonder.
“It’s a pretty big scope of activity the United Way has but we’ve worked hard to establish priorities and hopefully objectives that we can try and achieve over the next little bit,” he said adding that some of the areas they do work are in helping people facing crises in their lives, either with their mental health or physical well-being, and helping elderly people stay in their homes longer, among many other endeavours.
And despite the instability of the economy, Allen is confident Ottawa will still make the 2011 goal.
“People in this community have traditionally been extraordinarily generous. We’ve seen the first half of this campaign extraordinary efforts and extraordinary campaigns,” he said, adding his only hope is that continues through the second half.
You can continue to donate for another five weeks.
