The United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties officially announced Tuesday that it had raised $1,217,449 during its 2023 Campaign.
The announcement was made at the campaign wrap-up, which was held Tuesday morning at the Hartley Club in the Milan Puskar Center in Morgantown.
“We are so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish this year,” said Brandi Helms, CEO for the local United Way. “We raised over $1.2 million with the campaign, and when you add in the impact dollars we receive through grants, we’re going to be able to invest more than $2.1 million into Mon and Preston counties again this year.”
Helms started Tuesday’s program by detailing some of those impact projects United Way worked on throughout 2022. For instance, 13,000 people received food each month through United Way’s Helpful Harvest Food Program. The United Way also took 1,308 calls on the WV211 hotline and gave 4,409 referrals in the past year.
Helms then introduced the 2023 Campaign chairs, the WVU coaches’ wives — Brooke Brown, Amanda Mazey, Kate Covich and Lindsay Hammond. The four each took a few moments to explain how they got involved in the campaign, what activities they participated in throughout the year and how serving the community made them feel.
Following a break in the program for WVU sports trivia, employee coordinators from various companies were able to report their final totals. Then, with the help of the folks in attendance, the four campaign chairs assembled eight footballs — each with a number — to reveal the final campaign total.
This year’s campaign theme was “Change the Game” and was a play on the WVU coaches’ wives and the sports theme. The campaign, which kicked off in September 2022, raises money to help fund 36 programs at 27 agencies in the two-county region, as well as internal United Way programming, such as the Helpful Harvest Food Program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, WV211 call service and the Monongalia County Family Resource Network.
“The money raised stays right here in Mon and Preston counties, helping people most in need in our community in the areas of health, education, financial stability and basic needs,” Helms said. “We’re in an excellent position to change the game for folks in our community, and we’ll continue to do so by stepping up to the plate in unique and inventive ways, while still honoring the legacy of United Way and its 85-year history in these two counties.”
For more information about the United Way, call 304-291-7525 or visit unitedwaympc.org.
