By Kathy Chaffin
Salisbury Post
At his final function as the outgoing Rowan County United Way campaign chairman Tuesday morning, Guy Hoskins seemed to relish announcing the total raised last year one last time.
Contributions totaled $2,094,042, he said at the annual awards breakfast, topping the $1,855,000 goal by 13 percent. “I am so proud to be up here and be a part of this.”
Hoskins said several United Ways in the region did not meet their goals last year, falling as much as 30 and 40 percent short.
“I think maybe we take it for granted in this county how generous folks are,” he said, “so don’t take that for granted and be very proud of this.”
Awards were presented to more than 100 people, including campaign volunteers and representatives of the 16 United Way agencies and all the companies participating in the campaign.
In explaining the format for presenting awards, Karen Carpenter, executive director of the Rowan County Youth Services Bureau, promised to do it as expediently as possible while ensuring that every person got recognized.
“This is a celebration of your hard work and your efforts,” she said, “so we want to see you and let you know we appreciate you.”
Hoskins presented Special Awards to representatives of the following companies:
– Most Employee Spirit, Less Than 100 Employees ó Granite Knitwear, which increased its contributions by 42 percent with fewer employees by holding bake sales, raffles and dinners;
– Most Employee Spirit, More Than 100 Employees ó Rowan Regional Medical Center, which increased its contributions by 13 percent with raffles, contests, bake sales and other events, including a Health Fair for employees, for a total contribution of $86,691;
– Most Improved ó United Beverage, which increased its employee giving by 71 percent;
– Most Corporate Spirit ó Food Lion, which had an increase in its employee campaign and increased its corporate giving by more than 1,333 percent, taking the campaign over its goal in a year of economic downturns.
The following companies were presented with rotating trophies given to award recipients each year:
– Campaign Chairman’s Achievement ó National Starch and Chemical Company, which met the following criteria for the award: involvement by the chief executive officer and employees, improvement in campaign and getting the United Way message to employees.
Hoskins noted that Rich Steinert, director of operations for the company, had ended up being temporarily bald after challenging employees to increase last year’s contributions by more than 10 percent, promising to shave his head if they did.
– Best Overall Campaign (given to the company with the highest per capita gift combining corporate and employee pledges), Less Than 100 Employees ó Bank of North Carolina with a per capita of $1,036;
– Best Overall Campaign, More Than 100 Employees ó F&M Bank with a per capita of $395.65;
– Award for Excellence (overall performance over a three-year span), Less Than 100 Employees ó Citizens South Bank, which raised a total of $7,136.48 with 81 percent employee participation and an employee per capita donation of $338.29, up from $251.67 in 2006-2007 and $194.18 in 2005-2006;
– Award for Excellence, More Than 100 Employees ó City of Salisbury, which raised a total of $69,623 with 89 percent employee participation and an employee per capita donation of $155.41, up from $140.37 in 2006-2007 and $139.84 in 2005-2006.
Also at the breakfast, 139 companies received awards based on the amount of their employee per capita giving. Sixty-two received the President’s Award for employee groups with $100 per capita giving.
Citizens South Bank sponsored the breakfast.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249 or kchaffin@salisburypost.com.