NEWS RELEASE
March 4, 2009
For more information contact:
Jennifer Denham
United Way of Central Florida
(863) 648-1500, Ext. 257
UNITED WAY EMPHASIZES LIVING UNITED
DURING CELEBRATION EVENT
Employee Coordinator Awards and Goal Announced
Winter Haven, Fl – United Way of Central Florida (UWCF) held a community celebration Tuesday to highlight how Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties LIVE UNITED even during hard economic times. The event recognized all who participated in this year’s giving campaign with special emphasis on the volunteers who made 2008 a success.
The celebration, held at Nora Mayo Hall in Winter Haven, included a welcome by Ron Clark, senior partner at Clark, Campbell, Mawhinney & Lancaster, P.A. and 2008-2009 board chair.
Weymon Snuggs, chief banking executive of Citizens Bank & Trust and the 2008 United Way resource development chairman, addressed the crowd and recognized the campaign cabinet members who served as key volunteers throughout the campaign. He also recognized the committees that served under the cabinet and the loaned executives for their role in this year’s success.
Snuggs recognized the top two companies: Publix Super Markets, Inc. and Mosaic. Publix’s total donations were $3,074,795 with an increase of $232,958 or 9% over the previous year. Mosaic’s campaign total was $1,561,369 with an increase of $261,015 or 20% over the previous year. These two companies combined make up over $4.6 million of the $8.5 million goal. He also discussed the impact and importance of the top 50 organizations that participated this year.
Companies with the highest employee per capita giving were recognized and include Watkins Associated Industries with $3,272, Holland & Knight with $739 and United Way of Central Florida with $650. Five other companies were recognized for their employee per capita giving based on company size. This includes Watkins Associated Industries - less than 50 employees - $3,272; Allen & Company - 50 to 100 employees - $457; Lakeland Automall - 100 to 200 employees - $250; SunTrust Bank - 200 to 500 employees - $210, and Mosaic - 500 or more employees - $295.
The 2008 campaign saw increases in both leadership givers and participation. Four companies had a significant increase in participation including McKeel Academy going from 6% to 65%, Citizens Bank & Trust increasing from 9% to 61%, Center State Bank going from 17% to 63%, and CCC Group, Inc. increasing participation from 35% to 79%.
Four companies were recognized for their increases in leadership giving. These companies include Citizens Bank & Trust with a 300% increase from 4 to 16 leaders; Atlanticblue Group, Inc. with a 67% increase going from 3 to 5 leaders; City of Lakeland with a 23% increase from 26 to 32 leaders, and Publix Super Markets, Inc. with a 19% increase from 325 to 388 leaders.
A new award was created in 2008 to recognize an outstanding and influential special event held by an organization to increase giving to United Way. The first special event of the year award was presented to Mosaic for the “Catch & Release” Dinner and Auction, which raised $75,000.
Employee coordinators are the heart and soul of any work place campaign. Snuggs introduced the resource development team to recognize the four outstanding coordinators who far exceeded the criterion for the employee coordinator awards.
Hilary Roddenbery of Boring Business Systems was named outstanding employee coordinator for a small organization (10 – 49 employees). Boring, with 37 employees, increased their campaign from $7,967 in 2007 to $10,628 in 2008. Their per capita giving was $210.19 and their participation increased from 46% to 76% year over year. Hilary spent hours of her time encouraging employees to participate in the campaign. She arranged a model presentation event with multiple speakers and door prizes that generated interest and increased participation. CEO support was also very visible during the entire campaign.
The outstanding coordinator for a medium organization (50 - 199 employees) was Georgia Davis of Citizen’s Bank and Trust. Citizens’ 160 employees increased their giving from $5,891 in 2007 to $31,871 in 2008. Their per capita giving was $255.41 with 61% participation. They held a leadership breakfast event and over 16 employee presentations. Georgia traveled to all presentations with snacks and incentives. She even created a “buckslip” that showed how much one fast food meal per week added up to over one year, and convinced employees to give that amount to United Way.
GEICO’s employee coordinator, Kim Ottoman, was named outstanding coordinator for a large organization (200 or more employees). GEICO, which has 1,800 employees, raised a total of $305,711, which exceeded their goal of $300,000. Employee pledges increased by 3.27%, leadership giving went from $12,090 to $74,800, and special event fundraisers increased to $7,830 from $3,757. Their employee per capita gift was $135.97 and their participation was 75% up from 67% in 2007. The first thing Kim did after being named chair of the United Way Campaign was to put together a committee. She talked to each department to determine what they wanted to learn about United Way and then she set to work. When it became evident the uncertainty of the economy was affecting the pledges, she worked closely with Andrea Denton, GEICO’s loaned executive, and the committee to find ways to increase donations with fundraisers and more presentations.
Finally, Harry Crosby of CF Industries, Inc. and 2007 employee coordinator of the year presented the 2008 employee coordinator of the year award to Charles F. Gerhart from the City of Lakeland. Under Chuck’s leadership, employee pledges were up by $8,304 an 8% increase over 2007. The number of leadership givers increased from 26 to 32, a 23% increase. Chuck has been active in this role for six years. For five of those six years, the City of Lakeland has increased their campaign. He made himself available to go to any coordinator meetings and he encouraged his committee of 17 coordinators to have United Way meetings and presentations for all the employees. He is a very active EC and stresses the importance of giving back to the community through United Way.
To wrap up the evening, Snuggs announced the current campaign total and the projected total for the entire 2008 campaign. He thanked all those in attendance for LIVING UNITED and making a difference in the community and the lives of those who walk beside them each day.
Event sponsors included: Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc., Mosaic, GEICO, Tampa Electric, Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Winter Haven Hospital, Allen & Company of Florida, Inc., Century Realty Funds, Inc., Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, Holland & Knight, LLP, Polk Community College, Southern Wine & Spirits, SunTrust Bank, Watson Clinic, LLP, and The Ledger.
United Way of Central Florida has been serving our local community for 29 years by understanding local needs and driving lasting change to build better lives and stronger communities. For more information about UWCF visit www.uwcf.org or call 863-648-1500.
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