United Way of the Pennyrile is preparing to launch its annual fundraising campaign with a pair of upcoming events designed to recognize supporters and officially begin another year of raising money for local nonprofit agencies serving Christian, Todd and Trigg counties.
The organization will first host its annual Latham Society Appreciation Event on Aug. 28 before holding its campaign kickoff breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Silo Event Center in Hopkinsville.
Executive Director Melanie Noffsinger said this year’s kickoff marks an important change in venue while continuing the organization’s longstanding tradition of unveiling campaign leadership, fundraising goals and the community impact of United Way’s partner agencies.
During the breakfast, campaign co-chairs Amy and Derrick Watson will officially introduce the campaign, announce fundraising division goals and reveal the overall campaign goal for the year.
Noffsinger also thanked ExxonMobil, Hopkinsville Electric System, Rogers Group, Atmos Energy and Bastin Optometric Clinic for sponsoring the kickoff breakfast.
The campaign follows a record-setting fundraising effort last year, when United Way of the Pennyrile surpassed its goal by raising more than $800,000 to support local programs and services.
This year’s campaign is already off to a promising start.
“We will announce what we call pacesetter donors at the breakfast, and that’s anyone that can pledge or donate early and, again, ‘set the pace’ for the campaign,” Noffsinger said.
Leading up to the campaign, United Way leadership has spent time visiting partner agencies to gather stories highlighting the impact of donor support. Those stories will be featured in this year’s campaign video.
“We met with mostly all of the agencies over the course of two days, and Amy really got to meet and talk to so many amazing people and really gather some compelling stories,” Noffsinger said.
She acknowledged that condensing those stories into a single presentation has proven difficult.
“All of our agencies have such amazing stories to tell. People that have received those services have amazing stories to tell, so it is going to be kind of hard to get all that into one campaign video,” she said.
Before the official kickoff, United Way will recognize members of its Latham Society during an appreciation event Aug. 28 at the Alhambra Theatre.
The Latham Society recognizes individuals who contribute at least $500 annually to the campaign through one of 11 giving levels.
United Way has also begun making campaign presentations to local employers. Noffsinger said staff members have already visited all Pennyrile Electric locations and have additional workplace presentations scheduled throughout the coming weeks.
She encouraged businesses that have not yet scheduled a campaign presentation to do so soon as the organization’s calendar continues to fill.
While payroll deduction campaigns remain the largest source of contributions, United Way accepts donations in several ways, including online, by mail, in person and through corporate giving.
“You can visit us online and donate with a credit card online,” Noffsinger said. “You can mail us or drop off a check.”
According to Noffsinger, approximately 55% of campaign donations come through employee payroll deduction programs.
Funds raised during the annual campaign support United Way of the Pennyrile’s network of partner agencies, which provide dozens of programs addressing food insecurity, youth development, emergency assistance, domestic violence services, senior services, literacy programs and other community needs throughout Christian, Todd and Trigg counties.
The Latham Society Appreciation Event will be held Aug. 28 at the Alhambra Theatre. The United Way Campaign Kickoff Breakfast begins Sept. 3 at the Silo Event Center.
