Trumbull United Way sets goal for fund

The campaign chairwoman said she is optimistic that the goal will be reached.

WARREN — The United Way of Trumbull County kicked off its 2007 fund-raising campaign with music, food, games and a goal of raising more than $1.75 million.

With tough times in the job market locally, reaching that goal will be a challenge, but the campaign has had a good head start, said Fran H. Cunningham, this year’s chairwoman.

More than $321,800 already has been pledged by 17 companies that participate in the Pacesetter campaign.

The Pacesetter campaign is a program that begins a short time before the regular campaign to give it a “kick start,” the United Way says.

Cunningham, a saleswoman with William Zamarelli Realtors, announced the goal at Thursday’s kickoff party Rally By the River, held at the Warren Community Amphitheatre.

“Since its beginning, United Way has been at the forefront of providing practical solutions to difficult social problems,” she said. “However, today’s issues are more numerous and much more complex, often requiring a more comprehensive communitywide response.”

New approach

The result is a new approach called community impact.

“As a community-impact organization, our United Way has moved beyond its traditional role as a fund-raising and distribution federation to focus on the underlying causes of our community’s most significant human-care problems,” she said.

“It will take a lot of work, especially recognizing the many changes in our community’s industrial base,” Cunningham added. “It will take the generosity of new and continuing contributors, but I’m confident we will succeed,” she said. The organization raised just under $1.75 million last year.

Donald E. Moore, vice president of MidWest Trumco Insurance Agency and chairman of the United Way board, said United Way assists more than 80,000 people in Trumbull County annually.