OSU reaches United Way of Payne County campaign goal
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Media Contact: Jeff Hopper | Communications and Media Relations Manager | 405-744-5827 | jeff.hopper@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University has met and exceeded its portion of the overall goal for the United Way of Payne County’s (UWPC’s) 2024-2025 campaign.
United Way's mission is to improve the lives of individuals in Payne County by uniting resources. Its vision is for Payne County to be a community where individuals thrive because neighbors care.
OSU kicked off the campaign to raise $300,000 for its portion of UWPC's overall $1 million goal. This was announced during a Sept. 12 OSU United Way Kickoff hosted by the OSU Provost’s office, which welcomed coordinators and captains to hear from OSU campaign co-chairs Drs. James Payne and Julie Weathers.
A large portion of donations come from employee payroll deductions. OSU seeks to recruit more members to UWPC’s Leaders Society, which celebrates individuals who give $500 or more to the campaign.
Over the course of the semester, departments across campus showed support by hosting events to contribute to OSU’s goal. Whether it was silent auctions, raffles, a bake sale, or a chili cook-off, faculty, staff, and students came together this semester to raise money. The OSU United Way coordinators and captains are creative when they fundraise to help achieve their goals. An OSU United Way website lists all the activities for the semester.
The Spears School of Business, where Payne is dean, was the OSU division with the largest proceeds, raising over $35,000 for UWPC. Spears Business also partners with UWPC to produce an annual Community Status Report, which stresses the need for the United Way agencies in Payne County listing statistics on housing, poverty levels, hourly wage, food insecurity, high school graduation rate, reading proficiency, access to health care, crimes, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and many other pertinent statistics that affect our community. The United Way agencies make a difference in providing support and solutions to the many challenges affecting the citizens of the community.
Each year, fraternity and sorority members participate in a showcase called Varsity Revue. The funds raised are donated to UWPC. This spring, Varsity Revue raised a record-breaking $85,000 for the campaign.
“The workplace campaign on the OSU campus is amazing. All of the proceeds they collect come from employee-lead fundraising events and payroll deduction pledges,” said Ruth Cavins, UWPC executive director.
With the money raised in the campaign, UWPC supports 24 local nonprofit organizations. Each agency must be accredited and annually apply for an allocation of the money raised.
UWPC will begin distributing the money to its 24 local nonprofit partner agencies in January. Partner agencies like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Payne County Youth Services, and Mission of Hope will utilize the proceeds to implement their missions and support Payne County residents.
“We are very grateful for the hundreds of people across campus who are captains and coordinators working to make all of that happen. I really appreciate all that they do,” Cavins said.
Donations are still being accepted for UWPC’s overall goal, but all OSU payroll deductions and fundraising proceeds have been counted.
UWPC has partnered with OSU to help support Payne County residents for over 70 years. With one in four residents utilizing the services, a real impact is made each year in Payne County. Many individuals at OSU put forth tremendous effort to ensure the campaign is successful, and the appreciation is felt by all involved.
Story By: Darby Rains | darby.rains@okstate.edu