United Way is at 91 percent of its target figure

Published 12:00 am Saturday, December 8, 2007

Column by Angie Eggum, Touch a Life

The United Way has raised over $511,000 &045; 91 percent of its goal for the 2007 campaign. We are so close to reaching our goal, this is the most excited I&8217;ve been all year. And there have been some pretty exciting times so far this year! Wow, it&8217;s been a great year.

As I sit and think about my personal goals for the campaign, I have to wonder if I, too, have reached about 91 percent of them. I wanted to learn more about the United Way as an organization. By attending as many board meetings, executive board meetings, agency meetings, and visiting as many agencies as I could, I think I have done as much as I possibly could to attain that goal.

Email newsletter signup

I wanted to be as involved as I could in the campaign. As a mother of two who works full time, and is involved with other organizations in the community, I knew it&8217;d be hard to get to everything. I wanted to make sure that I balanced my job, my home life, and also my United Way activities, without losing control of any one aspect. I am very proud of the way this has worked out. I couldn&8217;t get to every activity, and have felt bad for every minute that I&8217;ve missed out on, but I think between my mom (Karol Held, my co-chairwoman) and I, we&8217;ve made a pretty good showing. And it&8217;s been fun!

Mostly I had a goal to teach as many people in the county about the United Way as I could.

With the help of my mom, Dave Bonnerup, Corinne Applegate, and countless volunteers, I think we&8217;ve done a pretty good job. We have visited companies large and small, talked to service organizations, and school boards. We have talked to our friends and neighbors, on the radio, and in the newspaper. And most recently, we went to each of the outlying communities and offered informational meetings to all that would give us a minute. I think this was one of the most important forums.

We tried to spread the word that the United Way isn&8217;t just an Albert Lea centered organization. Last year, the United Way helped over 5,783 people outside of the city of Albert Lea. They helped 309 people in Glenville alone last year, and about the same amount in each of the other towns throughout the county.

The United Way of Freeborn County really is &8220;of Freeborn County.&8221;

My theory has been that if everyone in the county knew how much the United Way actually does for our community we will have no trouble reaching our goal.

I do believe, however, that we&8217;ve only done 91 percent of our job.

There are still funds to be raised, so there is still work to be done.

If you haven&8217;t had the opportunity to give, please contact the United Way office. The official mailing address is 341 S. Broadway Ave., but if you plan to stop in, it is located in the downstairs of the US Bank building across from the Government Center. Stop by, and talk with Corinne and Dave. They would be more than happy to discuss the United Way with you. They are excellent at explaining where the funds go, the allocations process, and how the organization works as a whole. If you don&8217;t want to venture out in the cold, give them a call at 507-373-8670. They would love to talk to you!

Also, if you haven&8217;t had a chance to hear us talk about the United Way, and are interested in learning more, please, please, please contact the office and let us talk to you about why we believe that this organization is so important in our community. We need to raise $51,000 by the end of the year &8212; the only way to do that is to convince our community that it&8217;s worth it. Let us convince you!

We live in one of the most generous communities, and I have no doubt that we&8217;ll make our goal. I am so proud to say that I live here, and am affiliated with our United Way. Thank you to all of you who have given! And to those who haven&8217;t had the chance to give, please make sure you get your contributions in by Dec. 31 to ensure that all of the programs that the United Way helps will be funded to the point that they need for 2008. Help the United Way, Touch a life!

Angie Eggum is the co-chairwoman of the 2007 fall campaign of the United Way of Freeborn County.