(United) Way to Go

College committee drives up donations, donors

April 15, 2008

Heather Champion '97 and Ken Shultes '89, co-chairs of the college’s 15-member United Way campaign committee, guided a drive that raised a record $83,819 in 2007, up 94 percent from a year earlier.

A slack economy hasn't put a dent in Dickinson College's drive to donate.

College employees contributed $83,819 to the United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County in 2007, up 94 percent from $43,176 in 2006.

The bulk of the improvement stemmed from a ramped up effort by the college's United Way campaign organizers, who helped generate a 45 percent increase in the number of individual contributors, to 202 in 2007 from 139 a year earlier.

"I feel like we're doing a better job of getting information out to people on campus," said Heather Champion '97, associate director for the Career Center, who, along with Ken Shultes '89, director of facilities management, co-chairs the college's 15-member United Way campaign committee.

"We tried to make it impossible to forget about the campaign," said Shultes, who added that raffles and other fundraisers, coupled with "strategically spread out communications," aided the campaign during the fundraising time frame.

The effort sent Dickinson to second on the United Way's list of organizational contributors in 2007 (Giant Food Stores was first), up from seventh in 2006 and 2005.

Expanded representation

"More Dickinson College employees contributed than in years past," said Holly Laufer, campaign director of the United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County, which raised a record $1.6 million in 2007. "And coordinators formed a team that was representative of the various departments. They really made a concentrated effort to communicate with folks and educate them."

Part of the increase was due to the inclusion of retirees eligible to contribute under the college's name, and to a large donation by a college employee who requested anonymity. Even without those developments, Dickinson's level of participation would have increased significantly, Laufer said.

Champion said another factor in Dickinson's success was an effort by the committee members to present examples of how agencies and individuals benefit from employee contributions to the United Way. Some employees took walking tours of four such agencies: Big Brothers Big Sisters; Hospice of Central Pennsylvania; Safe Harbor; and Maranatha financial counseling service.

Impact hits home

Dickinson also hosted a visit by Angie Bobb, an Embarq supervisor whose family was helped by United Way after her house was damaged by fire in 2003.

On the day of the fire, with the house still smoldering, a representative of the American Red Cross—a United Way-funded agency—showed up with a check to help the family members pay for clothing, toiletries and shelter until they received payment from their insurance provider.

"It hadn't even occurred to me that we didn't have a place to stay for the night let alone a toothbrush or shampoo," Bobb said. "We gratefully accepted the funds. It wasn't the money that struck a chord with us, though. What we realized is that this is the type of need that is serviced by the United Way and its partner agencies. They realize that in tragedy, a lot of people are unprepared to handle the first day or two and they come to you—they seek you out—and they give you direction and assistance.

"We'll repay that money a hundred times over in our lives," Bobb said. "What we can't replace is the help that was offered when it was needed, which is what we see as the United Way."

Bobb spoke of her ordeal and the help she received at Dickinson's employee orientation and support-staff meetings.

"A lot of people were moved by her story," Champion said.

The United Way Committee members are: Shultes, Champion, Karen Faryniak '86, Pat Pehlman, Eileen Bear, Elaine Mellen, Julie Horton, Mary Hair, Lee Ann Kunkle, Dottie Warner, Steve Riccio, Carrie Crain, Miriam McMechen, Don Lindemuth and Leslie Swartz.