Project will fund United Way
by Terah Primack
Aiming to raise at least $29,000 to contribute to the cause, Earlham students and faculty began a fundraiser for the United Way on Oct. 1 that will run through Nov. 9. Earlham has held a United Way fundraiser every year for the past few years, and this year is no different. Students from committees across campus and many members of the faculty have come together to organize a campaign on campus.
“We just try and come up with ways that we can raise the most money to give to United Way. Because, out of most charities that colleges work with, they have the largest give back rate. Their give back rate is something like 82 percent, which is unheard of,” said sophomore Bailey Hall.
Hall and seniors Tarrell Berry and Christopher Owens are all students representing the Student Athletics Advisory Committee (SAAC), one of the many committees that have students helping with the United Way fundraiser project. Miller Farm, the Barn Co-op, Community Partnership Council and the Bonner Scholars program, among others, all have student members collaborating to come up with ways to make the fundraiser more profitable.
The athletic teams were originally going to pass cans around at all of their games, but there will be a breast cancer fundraiser occurring at the same time so new ideas have been proposed.
“On the 27th we’re doing something called ‘Cans to Classes.’ We’re going to have students all over campus carrying a can to class, and just like, at the beginning of class, say a few words and pass around the can. It’ll really help with student donations,” said Hall.
Other attractions include a haunted trail and a Halloween party, all hosted by students.
“I think the haunted trail and Halloween party will be fun, and that is going to be on the 30th of October—which I think is well planned, as opposed to the 31st. I know that’s been attended very well in the past by students. And then of course the tabling, we’ll have a can out at that.” said assistant Vice President for business Dana North.
Students on the fundraising committee have decided on five organizations to which they will donate the money raised by Earlham students. Those organizations are the Boys and Girls Club, Girls Inc., Amigos, Townsend Community Center and Meals on Wheels. Any money raised by the students will go towards these five organizations.
The entire Whitewater Valley, including Wayne and Union counties, is also conducting a United Way campaign at the same time. They started on Sept. 14 by holding a kick off week.
“All together we’re hoping to raise $29,000. That’s the campaign goal including faculty, staff and students, or anyone in the Earlham community. We hope to have 130 donors from the faculty and staff. It’s hard to tell how many students because they come in one to two dollar donations,” said Avis Stewart, vice president for community relations.
Students should look for United Way cans around campus, particularly in the coffee shop, Runyan center, the bookstore and the Athletics and Wellness Center. A good way to identify the cans is by the United Way logo on them.
“We wanted to have a visual that people were familiar with,” said Hall.
There will also be Woodstock donation meters around campus. As more money is raised more of the Woodstocks will be colored in, until the student and faculty goal of $29,000 is reached.
“One of the things we did,” said Stewart, “is we had what is called a solidarity day which was at the city building. All of the elected officials, meaning anyone from the U.S. senators, to our representatives, to the mayor and county council, people from Wayne to Union county, all declared the kick off week for the United Way fundraiser of the Whitewater Valley.”
Other events included a celebrity cook off which Earlham President Doug Bennett participated in, local golf star Bo Van Pelt talked to elementary students and held a dinner to raise money for the cause, and finally all residents of the Whitewater Valley were asked to spend a few minutes to think about what they could do to help those less fortunate than themselves.
Stewart praised the efforts made by whitewater residents saying, “Normally the kick off week is just a day, and it’s just one event or sometimes a lunch or breakfast. This particular week raised over $48,000. The goal for the campaign is three-fourths of a million dollars, which is a hefty goal during these economic times but this particular week I think helped us. Plus the Earlham community has been very generous throughout the last four years United Way campaigns. I think we’ve raised over $30,000 for the campaign.”
When asked what this year’s fundraiser was trying to achieve Stewart answered, “I think the goal is, let’s do whatever we can, at this particular time, to help people who are less fortunate than we are ourselves. That really is the goal. Let’s do all that we can do to be a good community and to help others.”
The United Way is an organization that was founded in 1887 in Denver, Colo. Currently it operates in 45 countries and territories including the U.S., helping mobilize communities to improve people’s lives.
The cans will be out until Nov. 9 when the fundraiser ends.
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