Posted: Monday, Oct 06, 2008 - 09:36:57 am CDT |
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By ROGER MEISSEN
The Fulton Sun
With a Burmese python draped
over his shoulders, Tom McDowell and his animal entourage induced
squeals of glee and excitement from the children milling around his
table at the 9th annual United Way Radio-thon kickoff.
“We love doing this,” McDowell
said. “The kids love it and I've even got adults who were terrified of
snakes as a kid to hold one in the end.”
This is the second year that McDowell - the co-owner of Paradise Pets -
volunteered to bring his animals out to the event meant to unite the
community and garner support for the United Way. He joined a car show,
food vendors and live radio broadcasts from the southeast corner of the
Wal-Mart parking lot that brought a steady stream of people out to
support the United Way and the 14 agencies it supports in Callaway
County.
This year the organization set loftier goals than previous years,
setting a goal of $250,000.
“We raised our goal by $30,000 this year because the need is there,”
said Kathy Richey Liddle, executive director of the Callaway County
United Way. “So many more people in the community need their services,
their help and our 14 agencies need that money.
“The people in Callaway County are so very supportive and giving, and we
appreciate everything that they do.”
Just 12 hours into its efforts, United Way volunteers and staff found
the organization less than $100,000 from its goal.
“We've got really impressive numbers from companies and students where they have raised more money than we ever thought possible,” said Cathi Miller Harris, board president for the CCUW. “Even in current economic times, these people, these businesses, know all this money stays in Callaway County.
“Almost 90 percent of every dollar we raise goes to the agencies, because we have lots of volunteers and very low overhead so we don't have a great expense to pay employees or some big salary for a CEO,” she continued. “People appreciate knowing their donations are going to real people that need help and live in their communities.”
Dan Diedriech - the radio voice of the United Way in its kickoff - hit the airwaves of K-Hits 100.5 FM bright and early at 6 a.m. Friday morning and continued giving updates all day to radio listeners. While Diedriech's broadcast aimed to get people involved in donating and bidding on more than 100 silent auction items, he also worked to connect people to the real people that they were helping.
“We had a young lady - a single mom with three kids - whose house was severely damaged by fire, who didn't know what to do,” Diedriech said. “The Red Cross came to her rescue, helping her with finances, clothing, and temporary housing, and was able to transition her in a very difficult time.
“That's what resonates,” he continued. “I can talk about it forever, but when a person who's affected talks, people understand why the United Way and these agencies are so important to support.”
Despite the record turnout, volunteers and board members both understand that obtaining their goal will be harder after this initial push, and they want people to know their help is still needed.
“We've seen a bigger turnout this year than in years past and that outpouring of help is wonderful,” Harris said. “However, we don't want people to think that we don't still need help.
“It's that last $100,000 that's really the difficult part and we all will still be working hard to reach that final goal.”