Talk about a slam dunk.
West Virginia Universitys winning team of students, employees and retireesled by head basketball coach Bob Hugginshas pledged more than $267,000 for WVU s annual United Way campaign.
Working together, we not only met the challenge; we exceeded it,said Huggins, who chaired the effort.
WVU s goal was set at $240,000 when the seven-week campaign kicked off Sept. 15.
Service and engagement are part of our identity, and I couldnt be more pleased with the outcome,campaign coordinator Brett White said.Despite tough economic times, the WVU community once again reached deep into its pockets to help its neighbors in need.
This was the largest WVU United Way campaign, White added, with more than 1,400 individual contributors and the largest donation coming in at $3,000. Academic Affairs raised $101,000, and retirees donated $20,171.
Coach Bob Huggins and interim President C. Peter Magrath were staunch supporterseach contributing to the cause,he said.With their help, we exceeded our goal by $27,000.
The 2008 WVU campaign was part of the West Virginia State Employees Combined Campaign. It mainly benefits the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties, but employees could also choose to designate a gift for a number of unaffiliated agencies, United Ways of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, and statewide-eligible organizations.
WVU s faculty, staff, students and retirees again made the University Monongalia Countys largest United Way contributor, White said.
Students alone raised about $11,000, student campaign chair Jason Zuccari said.
Student organizations were excited to be a part of the United Way campaign,he said.Under the leadership of the Student Government Association, we did our part to meet the fundraising goal and demonstrate that SGA is truly engaging students in the community.
The student campaign involved a fundraising competition among the residence hallsalong with Homecoming and Greek Week activities benefiting the United Way.
Students from every walk of life came together to support the United Way,Zuccari said.I think we have set the bar for students to give in the years to come.
It was the WVU Center for Civic Engagements first turn at coordinating the campaign, which had the themeWVU Lead the Way.The center introduced many new elements, including student-driven fundraising activities; an 8-foot fundraising thermometer, which allowed people to track the campaigns progress; weekly electronic update newsletters; and a retooled Web site ( http://unitedway.wvu.edu/ ) featuring a video with testimonials from people who have benefited from the work of the United way. About 200 WVU employees served as department coordinators.
The Center for Civic Engagement also rolled out the United Way Gold Rush, which organizers hope to make an annual tradition. With the help of SGA , the center sold 900 gold limited-edition T-shirts for the WVU -University of Auburn football game, raising more than $5,000 for the United Way.
The WVU centers annual Make a Difference DayOct. 25which coincided with the campaign brought 185 student volunteers together for four hours at 14 different sites around the Morgantown area to lend a hand at United Way agencies and other organizations. Students painted a room at Christian Help, helped upgrade a food pantry at the Raymond Wolfe Center and assembled backpacks for the Red Cross with emergency items such as water and toothbrushes.
White thanked Lowes for donating supplies and the Boston Beanery for providing lunch to volunteers on Make a Difference Day.
Every day the United Way and its volunteersmany of whom are WVU students and employeeswork hard to make our communities better places to live by helping those who live among us who cannot help themselves,White said.They tackle issues associated with homelessness, poverty, domestic violence, illness and illiteracy.