Guest Columnist
This year, I was privileged to serve as the first African-American campaign chair for United Way of Greater St. Louis. And I am grateful for the spirit of caring in our 16-county Missouri and Illinois region that helped us exceed our ambitious fundraising goal of $65.5 million.
You, the readers of The St. Louis American, helped achieve this goal, and we thank you with all our hearts. Of course, the generosity of the African-American community is well known. Many of us grow up understanding our responsibility to help those in need.
My friend Dr. Donald M. Suggs, president and publisher of the American, certainly demonstrated that when he suggested that United Way form an African American Leadership Giving Initiative comprising individuals who give $1,000 or more annually to United Way. At the time of the initiative’s founding in 1994, Charmaine Chapman was serving as president and CEO of our United Way – the first woman and first African American to do so. After her death in 2001, the initiative became the Charmaine Chapman Society.
How generous are we? Just look at the numbers! In 11 years, the Charmaine Chapman Society has grown from 35 members giving $81,000 to 561 members giving more than $1.4 million. That’s a tremendous achievement. In 2005, under the enthusiastic leadership of Charmaine Chapman Society co-chairs Johnny Furr Jr. and Minga Furr, we attracted 144 new members and raised 396,949 new dollars. That’s more than 16 percent of the new dollars raised in this year’s United Way campaign. Without those dollars, we could not have met our overall campaign goal.
More rewarding still are the beneficial ways in which your dollars are being spent. United Way and its 200 quality health and human service agencies help provide:
? Affordable quality day care
? Mentoring and counseling for youth
? Self-sufficiency for those with physical or mental illness
? Safety and recovery from violence and abuse
? Respite for caregivers of the ill and elderly
? Independence despite the frailties of age
? Freedom from drug and alcohol addiction
? Vocational counseling
? Basic needs—food, clothing, shelter—for victims of natural or personal disaster.
United Way is always here for all of us, even when our community is confronting challenges such as higher gas prices, rising heating costs, reduced government-supported services and new neighbors resettling from Hurricane Katrina. United Way is able to provide year-round support because 91 cents of every gift dollar funds agency services that meet our biggest needs and help the greatest number of people become safer, healthier and more self-sufficient.
To learn more about how your gift works hard all year long, visit PledgeUnitedWay.org. You can also call (314) 539-4015 to obtain information about the Charmaine Chapman Society, including a listing of United Way member agencies that primarily serve African Americans.
Thank you again – and enjoy a blessed holiday season!
David L. Steward is founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, Inc. and chair of the 2005 United Way Campaign.