NDSU’s annual United Way of Cass-Clay campaign officially kicked off Oct. 23, and unit coordinators are contacting employees, seeking participation and providing information.
NDSU’s 2013 United Way campaign goal is $113,646 – a 4 percent increase from last year’s campaign total. The United Way campaign theme is “Be The One.”
In a letter to university faculty and staff, President Dean L. Bresciani urged employees to contribute to the campaign. “When the local community needs our help, the people of NDSU have a history of stepping up to be of service. Another opportunity is here,” he wrote. “Please think of your gift as an investment with United Way of Cass-Clay. By participating, you’ll help a child do better in school, provide a meal to someone who might not otherwise eat today or help a struggling family get back on its feet.”
United Way donations fund 86 programs of 54 local agencies. NDSU employees will again have the opportunity to contribute electronically, through ePledging. Online pledging ends Dec. 13.
Char Goodyear, assistant to the vice president for University Relations, serves as campus campaign coordinator again this year. “As you make your decision on giving to United Way this year, please think about others in our local community who are not as lucky as we are – to have steady employment and great benefits. It’s easy to take this for granted until you know about the real needs of people,” Goodyear said. “Did you know that 13 percent of our local population lives in poverty? That means 28,121 local people live in poverty. Please join me again this year in donating to the United Way to help end the cycle of poverty. ‘Be The One’ to make a difference in our community.”
Kevin McCaul, professor of psychology and member of the United Way campaign cabinet, will lead the NDSU Leaders in Giving campaign, formerly known as Key Club. “Leaders in Giving are so important, in part because they are often leaders in their workplace and they model for everyone at NDSU the value in giving back to our community,” he said. “It’s also the case that a single gift from a Leader in Giving, which is at least $600, has a tremendous impact in and of itself. That amount of money, for example, can provide 110 hours of quality daycare to a disadvantaged family or through ‘Imagination Library,’ put 263 age-appropriate books per month into the hands of children.”
Last year, gifts to United Way of Cass-Clay supported more than 97,000 nights of emergency shelter, helped provide 3.3 million meals to more than 23,000 people in Cass and Clay Counties and provided backpacks of food to 1,200 children from 21 schools.
“Remember, it only takes the generosity of one person to change a life,” Bresciani wrote in his letter to campus. “Let’s make a difference – one success story at a time.”
For more information on the NDSU United Way campaign, contact Goodyear at char.goodyear@ndsu.edu. Information also is available on the NDSU campaign website at www.ndsu.edu/president/unitedwaycampaign or the United Way of Cass-Clay website at www.uwcc.net.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.