SALISBURY — At the United Way kickoff Wednesday, Rowan County Manager Aaron Church asked the audience to reflect on Hurricane Harvey and its effects in Texas.

“There’s more than 39,000 people that are homeless. That’s more than the city of Salisbury,” Church said. “This is a time to really come together, and it’s also a time, as you’re thinking this year about the campaign, to keep in mind that this money does go to help those who are in need.”

Church then read a list of the 16 agencies that will benefit from the United Way’s fall campaign.

“I’m going to name them and, as I name them, I want you to think about how, if our town was completely obliterated in a natural disaster, which one of these agencies would be helping us and what they would be doing to help us,” Church said.

The 16 agencies that will benefit from this year’s campaign are Rowan County Literacy Council; The Arc/Rowan; Rowan Vocational Opportunities; Boy Scouts of Central N.C. Council; Communities in Schools of Rowan County; Rowan County YMCA; Rowan County Youth Services Bureau; American Red Cross; Rowan County Rescue Squad; Salvation Army; Trinity Living Center; Rufty-Holmes Senior Center; Meals on Wheels; Families First Inc.; Family Crisis Council; and Smart Start Rowan.

The fundraising goal for this year’s campaign is $1,478,000.

“And we have 51 days to do that, including today,” said City Manager Lane Bailey.

Bailey and Church are co-chairmen for the fall campaign.

Bailey said the task of raising nearly $1.4 million is “huge” but that he was confident they could meet the goal.

Part of that confidence stems from an announcement made near the end of the kickoff — which was at noon Wednesday at the J.F. Hurley YMCA.

Cliff Ritchie — the great-grandson of Cheerwine founder L.D. Peeler — announced that in honor of Cheerwine’s 100th anniversary, Cheerwine will match donations to the United Way campaign dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000.

“As part of the 100th anniversary celebration of Cheerwine this year, we wanted to give back to the community that has meant so much to Cheerwine and our family and our employees for the last 100 years,” Ritchie said.

Ritchie said the challenge will be called “100 for 100.”

“We hope that this will encourage more people to participate and that we will make a difference in the United Way’s efforts,” Ritchie said.

Ritchie also said that Cheerwine will give out several prizes in the form of a year’s worth of Cheerwine throughout the campaign. When Ritchie made that announcement, the audience erupted in applause.

Church said the next few campaign events will be in mid- and late September.

The Day of Caring is Sept. 14 at various locations.

The first-report meeting is at noon Sept. 27 at Ben Mynatt Nissan.

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.