NORMAL —In the midst of a struggling economy, United Way of McLean County speculated whether it would meet its 2010 campaign goal of $4,260,745 after failing to reach its goal of $4,566,500, the previous year.

To the surprise of the not-for-profit organization and the several social service organizations it supports financially with funds from the campaign, UWMC surpassed its 2010 goal by over $2,000 with a total of $4,263,032 in donations.

UWMC Chairman Bob Lakin announced the campaign total for 2010 during a Campaign Celebration breakfast at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center last week.

"No one knew until the breakfast," said PATH Executive Director Karen Zangerle. "The whole room erupted. They kept their secret very well."

The PATH crisis hotline that services Mclean, Livingston and DeWitt counties is one of about 45 social service programs that the UWMC campaign generates funds for every year.

"The hotline wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for United Way and so we were afraid of what the consequences would be if they didn’t meet their campaign numbers," said Zangerle.

The Community Health Care Clinic, a social service organization that provides health care services for uninsured and low-income patients, receives around 37 percent of its revenues from UWMC campaign funds.

"We were very, very happy to see that United Way met their goal," said Executive Director of Community Health Care Clinic Angie McLaughlin. "That definitely allows us to be a little more optimistic in our operating budget for this coming year."

After failing to meet its campaign goal in 2009, UWMC set its goal for 2010 campaign goal lower than the amount it collected in the previous year. It was the first time in 20 years that UWMC had set a campaign goal lower than the amount it collected from its previous campaign.

"In ’09 we missed our goal by a bit, so we reassessed the community based on the current economic conditions and then we set our new goal," said Lakin. "We started earlier in the year, we had more people on the campaign, we worked harder than ever and because of all that, we were able to meet our goal."

Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington-Normal Evelyn Young applauds the community for making donations "in an uncertain time with the recession," during the 2010 campaign.

"That shows a willingness on the part of the community to stay engaged and to stay connected," said Young.

"Sometimes I think that there’s a lot of reasons not to give and you always hope that the persons in the community realize that it’s a better community when we make life better for people with few advantages," said Zangerle.

The largest donation in the 2010 campaign came from State Farm Insurance that collected around $2 million from company and employee gifts.

UWMC named sixteen employee campaign coordinators from local businesses as Employee Campaign Coordinators of the Year for their work in educating their follow employees about the importance of investing in the not-for-profit organization. Recipients of the award include Cindy Van Dusen and Sandy Young of Advocate BroMenn Medical Center; Carl Enchelmayer of Afni; Emily Siegel of DuPont Crop Protection; Dan Tompkins of Electrolux Home Care Products North America; Brandie Helander of FREESTAR Bank; Jackie McKinnis of GROWMARK; Joanna Pierce of Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral; Denis Thomas of Illinois State University; Jerry Letzkus of PNC Bank; Carol Ambler of Mitsubishi Motors North America; Val Foster of Springfield Electric Supply Company; David Taylor of State Farm Illinois Operating Center; Kathy Lancaster and Karen Moore of State Farm Insurance Companies Corporate Office and Julie Baird of The Snyder Companies.