MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties is continuing its annual fundraising campaign with the organization nearly halfway towards its goal.
According to campaign chair Tammie Alexander, the organization has raised $522,520 as part of its “We Can Move Mountains” effort. The campaign supports various health and education programs for families in immediate need of assistance.
“What we raise here stays here,” Alexander told MetroNews affiliate WAJR-AM. “We operate the local United Way office on a very lean budget, so when you contribute to the campaign, know that your money stays here in the local community.”
Alexander runs the campaign with an understanding of how it benefits people; she received assistance from the organization upon moving to Morgantown as a single parent. Since moving to Monongalia County, she received her law degree and joined the Steptoe & Johnson PLLC law firm.
“It played an important role in my professional development and my development as a parent,” she said. “The impact it made on my daughter and I is truly important and why I’m involved in this campaign.”
Alexander said individual and workplace contributions help ensure programs will be available to community members in the coming year.
“When you’re struck with some kind of obstacle — especially if it comes out of the blue and you just don’t know where to turn — that can feel so overwhelming and insurmountable,” she said. “Having the agencies that are supported by the United Way is so important.”
The organization has multiple events aimed at encouraging people to donate. One such opportunity highlights the relationship between the organization and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; for a donation, residents can designate a friend, neighbor or family member to be “Partoned.”
“You can actually splatter posters of Dolly Parton in someone’s yard,” Alexander explained. ” It’s sort of like the flocking thing that different organizations have done, but this is a little bit cooler. You get pictures of Dolly Parton all over your yard.”
The organization is accepting donations at its website, https://www.unitedwaympc.org/.