The Tygart Valley United Way celebrated a challenging campaign year with their Campaign Celebration on February 22, 2024 at the new White Hall Event Center at Middletown Commons in Fairmont. This event, which was the conclusion of a hard-fought campaign celebrated the finish with $631,075 raised to help support our local community.
Over 794 individual donors participated in the annual fundraising drive with over 130 leadership gifts of $500 or more. The Emerging Leaders program saw over 44 young leaders join and the Women United program had 31 join.
Representatives from the Rotary Club of South Fairmont presented a check for $70,000 to the campaign, representing the total raised from the 16th annual Celebration of Lights this winter.
Fairmont State University took the top honor of the event with the “Best of the Best” Award. They significantly surpassed their goal of $25,000 and brought in their second highest amount ever at over $30,000. Mon Power took home the Campaign Cornerstone Award for their continued commitment. They raised over $64,000 this year. First Exchange Bank tripled their annual giving and was recognized with the Gleason and Jean Kuhn Growth and Innovation Award. George Levitsky, longtime director of the transit authority, was recognized with the annual Chairman’s Award for his commitment to United Way through the years.
83 businesses provided corporate gifts. Christ Episcopal Church made an extremely generous gift of $30,000 and MegaCorp contributed $20,000. WVU Medicine, Davis Trust, EQT Foundation, J.F. Allen, and XTO Energy all donated $5,000.
21 small businesses joined the Small Business 365 Circle and a total of 84 workplaces ran employee campaigns.
Fundraising events also played a major role in helping to reach the goal. Dancing with the Stars provided over $35,000 to the campaign. The Live United Auction, which was held in November, raised just over $8,000.
Shaela Duckworth of First Exchange Bank and Kari Woodman of Pierpont Community & Technical College were recognized as the Outstanding Employee Coordinators. Christy Miller, outgoing Board President and longtime supporter was recognized with the Rev. Jack “Donal” Squires Award for her unwavering commitment to the United Way.
Diane Parker was recognized with the Friend of Flipside award. Christ Episcopal Church and MVB Bank were recognized with the United for Impact Award for their commitment to impact projects throughout the year. Pierpont Community & Technical College received the Volunteerism Award for their work in the community this year and the Disability Action Center was recognized as the Outstanding Funded Partner campaign for doubling their annual giving.
“Our United Way is so fortunate to have such amazing corporate and individual supporters,” added Brett White, United Way CEO. “Meeting our goal in an extremely difficult year is a testament to the caring spirit of the Tygart Valley. The programs that rely on this funding are changing lives daily and we are proud to play a small role in making that happen.”
A full listing of the award recipients can be found on the United Way website at tvunitedway.org. The funding from the annual campaign helps support 42 programs at 30 health and human service agencies in Marion, Randolph, Taylor, Barbour, and Tucker counties.
