MANSFIELD, Ohio – The United Way of Richland County kicked off its annual campaign Tuesday morning at the Renaissance Theatre, recognizing this year’s pacesetter companies and announcing its campaign goal.
It was the first stand-alone campaign kickoff event for the United Way. In previous years, the organization’s Day of Caring had served as the campaign kickoff.
During the event, the United Way of Richland County announced a goal of $1.6 million for 2015. And with the help of many pacesetter companies and other local entities, it has made significant headway toward that goal with $464,459.83 already raised.
“That’s just an awesome total that puts us at 29 percent of our overall goal,” said Dan Varn, executive director of the United Way of Richland County. “If you look at last year, that’s over probably about $150,000 more than we were at this point – even though we kicked off the campaign five weeks earlier.”
United Way did not reach its $1.7 million goal during the 2014 campaign but came close, raising $1.53 million.
“What we have to do a better job at, I think, is we want better capacity-building – really tell our story to more folks,” Varn said. “You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t know about the United Way or are unfamiliar about our services.”
Representatives from each pacesetter company were asked to create a collaborative piece of artwork during the event by flinging, smearing, and dumping paint on a canvas, which ultimately would reveal this year’s goal.
The Jackson Pollock-esque painting will be displayed in the United Way office at 35 Park St. North No. 179.
The United Way of Richland County funds over 50 programs within 24 local, nonprofit agencies. The programs focus on four community impact areas: health services, family services, emergency services, and youth development.
Varn said the need is ever-increasing among United Way’s agencies, adding that it is important to fund the local programs so they can perform to their full effect.
“The big thing we’re doing this year is we really increased the amount of volunteers we had involved because we wanted them to be able to go out and tell the story to companies they were familiar with, to people that they knew,” he said. “So there was that kind of personal connection there, and it helped them to make an understanding of the United Way.”
The next big activities for the United Way are the mid-campaign breakfast in November and the “dash to the goal” in January, Varn said.
“Hopefully we can wrap it up right around there,” he said. “It’s going to be a great event.”
The event, which included a breakfast buffet, featured keynote speaker Jean Halpin, president of OhioHealth MedCentral, which sponsored the kickoff.
For information on the local office of the United Way or the agencies it funds, visit unitedwayofrichlandcounty.org.
“The big thing we’re doing this year is we really increased the amount of volunteers we had involved because we wanted them to be able to go out and tell the story to companies they were familiar with, to people that they knew,” Dan Varn said. “So there was that kind of personal connection there, and it helped them to make an understanding of the United Way.”
2015 Pacesetter Results
• Agencies of the United Way: $17,951
• FirstEnergy: $15,961.02
• Gorman Rupp: $52,700
• J&B Acoustical: $8,040.40
• Mansfield News Journal: $13,000
• Mechanics Bank: $40,000
• Midwest Trucking: $3,311
• Milliron Auto Parts: $13,635
• Milliron Industries: $25,000
• OhioHealth MedCentral: $12,216
• Richland Bank: $76,103.43
• Therm-O-Disc: $85,156.26
