MORGANTOWN — If you still don’t know for sure exactly what those dollars do, just look around, Andy Walls said Wednesday.
Look at the person in the next lane over at the traffic light, he said. Or the kid who sits next to your kid in class. There’s a good chance the above and their families have benefited from the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties, said Walls, who is chairing the 2019 campaign for the organization.
Walls announced Wednesday that the campaign which began Sept. 11 and concludes in December has raised $534,551, to date.
That’s more than 30 percent toward its $1.4 million goal, Walls said.
“Just look at the people the United Way helps,” Walls said, as he stood in the lobby of Morgantown Printing and Binding, the Green Bag Road business he has owned and operated for 23 years.
The local United Way pays heating bills in the winter and makes sure youngsters from needy homes have nutritious snacks to eat on weekends and holiday breaks with their school cafeteria — often their only means of breakfast and lunch — are closed.
It helps fill prescriptions for people who don’t have health insurance, or not enough.
A total of 47 outreach programs and 25 health and human service agencies fall under the United Way here, he said.
Twenty-three years ago, as Walls said, he didn’t know the full scope of the mission.
Last year alone, those member agencies across Mon and Preston assisted 32,000 people with fiscal matters and other needs.
Those same agencies distributed $20,000 to households needing help with heating bills. Nearly 11,000 mental health and legal support sessions were provided for victims of abuse and neglect.
About 2,000 coats were collected for needy children.
A total of 42,940 weekend food packs where also prepared for youngsters from needy homes.
“That’s a lot of work and a lot of families,” he said.
Such an effort, though, he said, can only be fueled by the campaign.
Joining him at his place of business on Wednesday were several people who run in-house campaigns for United Way at their places of business.
More than $270,000 of the money taken in so far has come from companies, United Way CEO Brandi Helms said.
“This is a generous community,” she said, referring to the organization’s two-county region.
“The money during the campaign comes to us, but we put right back into the community.”
Tweet @DominionPostWV. Email jbissett@dominionpost.com.
