photo by: Elvyn Jones

From left, volunteers Gaye Groene, Peggy Johnson, Rita Adame and Tom Groene work their way through stacks of material going into invitations for Douglas County CASA's annual CASAblanca fundraiser. The four volunteers visit CASA as part of the Day of Caring Volunteer Blitz that was part of Douglas County United Way's 2016 campaign kickoff.

The handful of volunteers giving up their Wednesday afternoon to help at the Douglas County CASA said they were family.

The Lawrence residents all had ties to various children’s agencies in the community and knew one another through past volunteer work, said Rita Adame. They snapped at the chance that the Douglas County United Way offered to participate in its Day of Caring Volunteer Blitz, which was part of the agency’s kickoff Wednesday for its 2016 fundraising campaign. Those signing up for the blitz were sent to CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates, and other United Way community partners that needed help.

“I was part of the original group who founded Douglas County CASA,” Adame said as she and the other volunteers prepared invitations for the agency’s annual CASAblanca fundraiser set for Sept. 30 at Abe and Jake’s Landing. “Today seems like a homecoming. Volunteerism is part of Lawrence life and always has been.”

Sitting to her left at the table, volunteer Tom Groene said he and his wife, Gaye, were there because volunteerism was part of the rent they paid for living in the community.

“If a person is doing business in Lawrence, you’re going to be very involved in volunteer work,” he said.

The volunteers made their way to CASA after being treated to lunch during the annual United Way campaign kickoff at the Carnegie Building. After that event wrapped up, Colleen Gregoire, United Way vice president of resource development, said the agency was very appreciative of seasoned volunteers like those who spent Wednesday afternoon at CASA, but wanted to recruit more volunteers and donors.

“Really that’s the focus of the campaign this year,” she said. “We really would like to focus on getting more participation in the campaign than reaching a financial goal.”

Nonetheless, Gregoire said a figure that this year’s campaign co-chairs, Bonnie and Jamie Lowe, shared at the kickoff was “basically” the goal of the campaign. During their presentation — which included accounts of how local United Way agencies made a difference in the lives of county residents through educational opportunities, health care and financial stability — the Lowes said $1.7 million was needed to fund in the next year the more than 40 programs that the agency’s 28 community partners provide. That would be an increase from the $1.5 million raised in the 2015 campaign.

“You can trust every dollar will be spent in the community,” Bonnie Lowe said. “United Way has a four-star rating by Charity Navigator, the highest rating that can be achieved.”

Gregoire said those local dollars were increasingly vital.

“The United Way’s mission is more critical as state and federal funding support for our community partners dries up,” she said. “Some of them depend almost solely on the campaign for funding. The United Way is in the perfect position to raise those funds for agencies that have demonstrated the mutual benefit of working together.”

A number of local campaign events will take place in the coming months. The first fundraising event of note will be an Oct. 8 Kick Out Poverty Kickball Tournament at Holcom Park. Registration information for the tournament can be found at unitedwaydgco.org by clicking on the events icon.

“We’re hoping for 16 teams,” Gregoire said. “We want to have round-robin play in the morning and have a tournament at the end of the day.”