United Way Raises More than $3M for 3rd Year

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – For the third year in a row, the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley raised more than $3 million during its annual campaign, for a total of $3,065,532.

While this year’s $3,065,532 was down about $80,000 from the 2017 total, United Way President Bob Hannon says the fact that the goal was exceed speaks to the confidence donors have in the organization’s work.

“We have corporations like Huntington Bank that give $50,000 a year, and their employees give, and they sponsor events. That’s huge,” Hannon told the crowd at McGuffey Elementary School in Youngstown.

Huntington Bank is the Adopt-A-School sponsor for McGuffey School.

For the first time in 25 years, the No. 1 workplace-donor was not General Motors Lordstown Complex, which was reduced down to a single shift last summer and is set close in March.

Hannon said while the closure will impact future campaigns, help from the plant will not dry up completely, as GM’s corporate commitment will continue to the local United Way for the next two years.

“We’re working out the details of that agreement but they have assured us [support] will be at a high level,” he said.

The 2018 campaign chairman was William Shivers, regional president for Huntington Bank’s Mahoning Valley and Canton regions, who acknowledged there were “some challenges. Obviously with Lordstown going down, we were concerned about that,” he said.

To help make up the difference, Shivers says the United Way focused on reaching out to new donors.

“It took a lot of hard work but we were able to do that,” he said.

The campaign also benefited from increased giving by several companies, including the Muransky Companies, which was the largest workplace donor in 2018.

Much of the work United Way does in the community is focused on early education initiatives such as Success After 6, which provides wraparound services to students in Campbell, Girard, Liberty, Youngstown City Schools and Youngstown Community School.

The program includes tutoring, vision screenings, mentoring, and reading assistance.

“What we’re doing here with the kids truly makes a difference,” Shivers said.

Next week, United Way will launch its 2019 campaign and begin celebrating its 100th year. The event will kick off at United Way’s annual luncheon Feb. 11, the centennial of the chapter’s incorporation.

The top workplace campaigns, in order, for the 2018 fundraising drive were:

• The Muransky Companies
• General Motors and UAW Local 1112
• Dearing Compressor and Pump Co.
• Compco Industries
• Youngstown State University
• Home Savings Bank
• AT&T
• UPS
• Dinesol Plastics Inc.
• Exal Corp.

New workplace campaigns were:

• Exal Corporation
• Integrated Fab
• MYCAP
• Western Reserve Port Authority
• Coleman Professional Services

The top foundation supporters were:

Frank & Pearl Gelbman Charitable Foundation

• Home Savings Charitable Foundation
• Walter & Helen Bender Memorial Fund
• PNC Foundation
• Walter E. & Caroline H. Watson Foundation

Pictured: United Way 2018 fundraising campaign chairman William Shivers and President Bob Hannon joined Success After 6 students and teachers from McGuffey Elementary to announce the results of the campaign.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.