The needy of Door County thank you

United Way of Door County announced this week that the 2013 Annual Fundraising Campaign raised $466,943.50. That’s the most the campaign has ever raised.

My Door County Advocate column:


I’ll let the news release tell the story:

“The number represents over 8,000 Door County residents who will be empowered by at least one of the human services programs that receive funding from United Way of Door County. 

“The Community Investment Committee and board of directors are pleased that they will be able to meet their 2014 financial obligations to their strategic partners who work to meet the county’s impact goals in the areas of Basic Needs, Community Wellness, Health, and Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Prevention.

“Don Albert, volunteer president of the United Way of Door County, said, ‘The United Way of Door County extends a big thank you to our friends and neighbors in Door County for helping us raise needed funds to help thousands of people here in our community.’  Albert added that, ‘Without each and every one of you who believe so strongly in this local organization, we could not achieve this level of success in our community.’

“‘While many needs will be met in 2014, there are still hundreds of others who will need assistance,” Albert said. ‘Remember to LIVE UNITED.  You can do this easily if you take a little time to Give, Advocate or Volunteer right here in Door County.’”

Why these words appear here rather than on our news pages, of course, is because I’m an officer on the United Way of Door County board and therefore can’t write objectively while I’m so tickled that the community came through bigtime in these interesting economic times.

Yes, we put the word out there that the actual need is closer to $530,000 to fully serve the defined needs of this little corner of the universe. We knew (OK, most of the board knew, but I’m sometimes ridiculously optimistic) that our best-case scenario was to exceed the fundraising record, and the fact that we did it comfortably is cause for great celebration.

It means kids will be fed and cared for, sick people will get treatment, healthy people will have help in staying healthy, we’ll keep fighting the scourge of AODA, and neighbors in need will continue to have help from their more fortunate neighbors. The big number – the one that would have funded everything these 26 agencies hoped to achieve – was put up as a reminder that there’s always more we can do.

Thanks, Door County, for this latest proof of what a tremendously generous community of people we are. And now we celebrate for a little while, take a breath and start planning th 2014 campaign – because the need is always there.