United Way reached 83% of goal

FOSTORIA --- The United Way of Fostoria made it through the coronavirus pandemic of the recent past better than many others in the network. "We thought after COVID(-19), we were free and easy," Executive Director Evelyn Marker said. "It didn't turn out that way." Indeed, a number of circumstances collided in 2022, causing the local United Way to encounter the infrequent occasion of not meeting its goal. Following the pandemic year of 2020, it was just the second time in Marker's seven years as executive director that the local United Way's donation total didn't meet the agency's goal. The 2022 campaign, themed "Celebrating Our Past and Building Our Future," reached 83% of its $110,000 goal by raising $175,000. The total was announced during the United Way of Fostoria's 65th annual meeting, conducted Wednesday in Fostoria Junior/Senior High School's Legacy Hall. All money donated to the United Way of Fostoria remains in the city to fund 15 partner agencies and First Call for Help Fostoria, a United Way-operated program which helps citizens find resources for basic needs. The collection of troubles that plagued this year's campaign could not have been predicted, Marker said. Still, she found a silver lining, noting during her presentation that 90 percent of the necessary funding for the agencies was covered and the board of directors had voted to tap into a reserve fund to make up the difference. "When you make the goal early in the summer, it's hard to know what the campaign's going to be like, in October, November and December," she said in an interview after Wednesday's meeting. "So, I feel good that we raised what we needed to. I feel really good that we raised what we needed to for the agencies." The monkey wrenches that flew into the situation came from different directions. "There were a lot of headwinds that we had this year," Marker said. "All the talk about recession and then the actual inflation. The political environment; I hate to think back to last fall, but it was pretty brutal. Then we also discovered that the workforce in the factories and the companies is smaller, and there's a lot of movement from one town to another. When you have changes like that, people cut back on their giving; until they get established, they will cut back on their giving. Some of the older workforce, the major donors, were retiring. So, there were just a lot of things that played into this." Still, the United Way was able to distribute $320,000 into the city, Andrew Sprang, president of the board of trustees, reported. "Anything over $300,000 is a good year," Marker said. Amie Hathaway of H.O.P.E. in Fostoria, an anti-drugs organization, Kristen Tiell of the Geary Family YMCA and Renee Smith of the Fostoria Learning Center gave testimonials on how United Way funding has benefited their agencies. Announced as new members of the board of trustees were Amy Kirkpatrick of PPG (Alpha Coatings) and Brittany Tiell of Financial Design Agency. Recipients of renewed terms were Sprang and Tera Matz, both of Fostoria City Schools, Angela Matthews of Designer Cuts, Scott Scherf of Kaubisch Memorial Public Library, Tom Borer of ProMedica Fostoria Community Hospital and Dionna Brenamen of Java's Enchanted Bean.