Happy New Year!

First of all like to take the opportunity to wish you good health and much prosperity in the new year.

Now, a little campaign update...
We are currently at 77% of our goal or $288,394. The good new is that there are so many areas that are up this year!

• We have almost $30,000 in new givers! -Some new companies like Baker's IGA, Best Heating & Air, & The Beacon. That's wonderful!
• We have so many places that have really increased their campaigns and made a substantial difference. The School division is over their goal by $1,671. The Public Employees Division is over by $1,757!
• We just received a donation -never received before- from the State Bar Association for $3,300!
• Many companies and/or groups have nearly doubled their totals from last year....Kraft Foods, Century National Bank, Auer Ace Hardware, Time Warner Cable. Lots of positives.
• Others with nice gains...Ohio Heritage Bank, Annin, Jones Metal, Buehlers, Chase, CASCO, Home Loan, WTNS, Dr. Erwin Family Eye Care.
• Unfortunately, this economy has been very hard on our big industry. The industry has been so good to us in the past, making up 67% of our campaign monies last year. To date the Industry division is down $40,721 over last years campaign total. This is understandable, but making it a real challenge on our end. We are still waiting on Clow, AK Steel, Novelty Advertising and Longaberger to come in to boost those numbers a bit.

I refuse to give up. We will tentatively close our campaign (although we NEVER stop taking money!) on January 30th, in order to prepare for the Annual Meeting held in February. That leaves us one more month to beat every bush out there. If you have any ideas on last push efforts, please let me know. We must make a difference when our community needs us most!

Volunteer of the Month

Duane Stutzman (Pictured above (Left) with T.J. Wright, 2nd grader at Keene Elem.), December’s United Way Volunteer of the Month!

Duane Stutzman, who volunteers for the Tutoring, Learning & Contributing program (TLC) has been named the United Way of Coshocton County Volunteer of the Month for December. Stutzman was nominated by Kathy Raber, Keene TLC Supervisor.

Duane Stutzman has been a TLC tutor at Keene Elementary for 2 years. He is a junior at River View High School. When Duane arrives at tutoring, he is the one everyone (tutors and students) looks up to. “From the time he hits the door until the end of each session, he always has a smile on his face, energy that is contagious. He is always positive and ready to do whatever is asked of him,” states Raber. The word “no” is not in his vocabulary. Because he is so committed to the program, his students work really hard to get a high five, “good job” or just a smile out of Duane. He strives every week to bring out the best in everyone. According to Raber, Stutzman is a great mentor for everyone he touches. Raber feels he is a true blessing to the TLC program. “We are so lucky to have Duane in our program. He is such a dedicated and caring young adult. When I think of T.L.C, I think of Duane and smile,” states Raber.

In addition to his work with T.L.C., Stutzman has dedicated over 100 hours of service to the Coshocton Hospital, he helps with the youth program at his church, is a Junior Leader, a Jr. Fairboard member, and helps with the Higher Hopes auction. He enjoys helping backstage with the school drama department. He has also been known to help disabled children at the Christmas program, help clean up the park after the big storm, and help friends and neighbors with anything that needs done. Stutzman is the son of Mary and Nelson Stutzman and has two sisters Lisa and Marium.

T.L.C. is a free, after-school tutoring program that matches volunteer Jr. and Sr. High School students with elementary students. There are currently 13 T.L.C. sites throughout the county. For more information regarding enrolling a student or becoming a volunteer, contact Katrina Havranek, county coordinator at 622-2924.

On behalf of the Board of United Way of Coshocton County, Inc., I would like to congratulate and thank Duane Stutzman for being recognized as a person in our community who is willing to volunteer his time and talents to the community. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. LIVE UNITED.

The Night Before Christmas -United Way style

Tis’ the night before Christmas
And all through the house,
The cats are not stirring
Thank God there’s no mouse.

When out on the roof
Arose such a clatter
I pulled on my sweats
To see what was the matter.

I threw open the window
Drew up my gaze
To see a sight
That did shock and amaze.

Out on the roof
With a thump on the snow
Landed a sleigh and a driver
Sporting a United Way logo!

His smile was merry
His features so bright
I knew in a second
He was our hero tonight.

As I drew in my hand,
And was turning around
Down the chimney our Hero
Came with a bound.

I stood quite still
When he landed so slow
And asked him quite simply
Why the UWay Logo?

His eyes, how they twinkled
His dimples so merry
He answered quickly
And did not tarry.

“Tis the season of giving,
of love and of sharing.
What better way to
Show we are caring?

Than to give to the needy,
Provide for the poor
United Way does that,
And so much more.

With problems so great
In our world today
It gives me hope
To see United Way…

Address the issues
Our communities face
To find solutions
With dignity and grace.”

Laying a finger
Aside of his nose
With a wink and a smile
Up the chimney he rose

I knew it was Santa
That jolly old elf
Who cared about this world
More than himself.

I heard him exclaim
As he flew out of sight
“Give to United Way &
May your holidays be bright!”

Half Way There!

I am happy to announce that we are officially half way to our $375,000 goal!

Congratulations to the Schools Division! They were the first group to hit and exceed their goal!
This year the schools have brought in $28,658.96!

Here's where the others are ranked as of today...

Goal; Total raised; % of Goal
Public Employees $20,000; $19,908; 99.5% -Only $92 away!
Retiree $10,000; $ 3,399; 94%
Professional $23,000; $21,025; 91.4 %

Special Gifts (500+) $23,000; $19,120; 83%
Retail/Small Business $45,000; $36,033; 80%
Agribusiness $5,000; $3,790; 75%
Industrial $221,000; $28,502; 13%

We need you! If you haven't given, please consider helping out. Those struggling need us more now than ever. Our mailing address is P.O. Box 84 or donate online by going to our website at http://www.coshoctonunitedway.org/. Thank you!

Ace IS the place!

A big Thank You goes out to Auer Ace Hardware, their employees and their customers!

For every gallon on Benjamin Moore paint sold in the month of October,

Auer Ace Hardware donated $5.00 to the United Way.

Customers bought 168 gallons of paint in October,

totalling $840 in donations to the United Way!

Thanks to Ace for this promotion and

to all of you who chose to get that painting done in October!

Pictured above are Tom Edwards and AmyTaylor.

Kraft is committed!

Kudos to the Coshocton Kraft Foods plant. This group joined hands and collected $12,863 for this years' United Way campaign! That is a little more than double what they did last year! Thank you Kraft employees for your contributions and dedication to helping your friends and neighbors in Coshocton County!

Here's just a few of the Kraft employees proud to be a part of it all.

Thanks also to the supervisors and plant Campaign Manager Arturo Jauregui for scheduling the 37 meetings we had to let Kraft employees know about the great things that the United Way does. This was time well spent! LIVE UNITED!

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