Honks of horns from cars and trucks filled the air Wednesday as drivers passed by United Way staff, board members and advocates on their morning commutes. The United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties officially kicked off its 2024 Campaign with a Honk and Wave hour at three locations around Morgantown and one in Kingwood.
The groups held signs, encouraging folks to honk, wave and/or donate to the campaign, which is in its 86th year for the United Way of Mon and Preston Counties. The goal for this fall’s campaign is $1.3 million, and so far, $235,000 has been raised — 18% of the way there. Pacesetter companies have already been raising money to jumpstart the fall campaign, and several proceeds from fundraisers held in the spring and summer go toward the goal.
“We’re excited to get this campaign off to a good start,” said Jenna Russell, director of business development for the local United Way. “Thank you to all the companies and individuals who’ve helped us launch our campaign this year. I’m still fairly new to the United Way, and this is my first campaign in this role, so I’m eager to get out there to meet people and show them how United Way is making a difference with their donations.”
The theme for this year’s campaign is We Can Make the Difference, and Monica Haddad has stepped up to lead the campaign as the chair. Haddad is an experienced mediator and litigator who has practiced law for 20 years in West Virginia.
“Community is more than a location. It is the people within it who care about each other and strive to improve the lives of others,” Haddad said. “Your generous contributions of time and money allow the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties to connect our community in providing much-needed assistance through its 34 programs and 27 agencies.”
Money raised during campaign goes toward these programs and agencies, as well as United Way’s internal programming, such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Helpful Harvest Food Program, the Family Resource Network and WV211.
In addition to raising funds, the United Way is also selling Gold Rush T-shirts, designed to be worn at WVU’s Gold Rush football game vs. Texas Tech on Sept. 23, with proceeds benefiting the WVU Student United Way Campaign. The shirts are $15 for small-XL and $18 for 2X-3X, and they can be purchased at
unitedway.wvu.edu/goldrush.
For more information about the United Way, visit http://www.unitedwaympc.org. To donate to the campaign, visit www.unitedwaympc.org/give or text WECAN2024 to 41444.
