Stellar year for United Way

Supporters gather to celebrate record amount of contributions

Despite disasters on the international, national and area stages during 2005, the United Way of Douglas County raised a record $1.58 million during its campaign for the year.

“The community really knows how to support its own,” said Colleen Gregoire, campaign manager for the United Way.

Officials announced the estimated total to donors and volunteers during a celebration Tuesday at the Eldridge Hotel.

Some businesses have yet to announce their donations, and other donations from outside the county may still be forwarded, which made Tuesday’s total an estimate.

It was a 2 percent increase from the $1.55 million raised in 2004.

It was also the third consecutive year the fall campaign met its goal. United Way officials had aimed to top $1.56 million in 2005.

Campaign chairwoman Ann Gardner, who is the editorial page editor for the Journal-World, said she had heard discouraging news about donor fatigue, especially in August after Hurricane Katrina.

Dwayne Penslee, front left, Ruby Penslee and Tammy Moody joined other United Way supporters in a standing ovation after the record-setting tally in the United Way of Douglas County's 2005 campaign was announced. The charity raised .58 million, despite concerns that donations would decline because of other recent disasters.

Other disasters followed, including flooding in northeast Kansas, Hurricane Rita and the Boardwalk Apartments fire. The year began on the heels of the tsunami in South Asia. “I thought, ‘Surely Douglas County is going to rise to the occasion and do the job for us,'” Gardner said. “I was right. This community really stepped up.”

Tuesday’s celebration recognized the campaign’s volunteers and area businesses whose employees have donated.

Gardner said she thought the United Way’s service to 25 agencies, with 99 percent of the funding remaining in the county, provided an advantage for the campaign.

“Lawrence is a great community. I just think that people really believe in the United Way,” Gardner said.

Also on Tuesday, the United Way’s first annual Community Impact Fund grant was awarded to GaDuGi SafeCenter and its partners for “Wednesdays at Liberty Hall,” a program for junior high school students who are dismissed early from school.

The program will begin in the fall, and the $50,000 grant will provide funding for two years. The grant was established in memory of Barbara Smith Reavis, the United Way’s executive director in 1986-1997.

Kim Patton, young adult specialist at the Lawrence Public Library, said the total for the United Way’s campaign was impressive in light of all that happened in 2005.

“I think it’s fantastic. To come up with even more than they did last year, I think that’s great,” Patton said.

The library will be one of the 23 partners for “Wednesdays at Liberty Hall.”