By Donna Thornton/News Editor
The United Way of Etowah County kicked off its 2012 campaign with the fitting theme “Different by Nature, United by Mission.”
At a football themed lunch last Thursday, United Way volunteer Valerie Richardson, who chaired the Pacesetter Campaign, gave results of that drive and started the ball rolling toward the $1,385,000 fundraising goal set by the campaign cabinet. Catherine Martin, of Exchange Bank, is this year’s campaign chairperson.
United Way Resource Development and Marketing Director Jessica Brown said 6,000 donors contributed to United Way last year, truly an example of people with many differences uniting for the betterment of their community.
As to how many people are helped by United Way each year, Brown said it’s difficult to put into numbers. The United Way counts assistance in “units of service,” she said.
If a family of four goes to the Red Cross after losing their home to a fire and gets assistance for a hotel room, Brown said, it counts as four units of service. If each family member gets clothing, that counts as additional units of service.
Through all the agencies that receive United Way funds, Brown said, more than 1,200 people every day are touched in some way by a dollar donated to the United Way.