Breakfast begins Day of Caring

Tuesday’s event also kicked off United Way’s 2007 general campaign, with a goal of $2.9 million.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Nearly 600 United Way volunteers who crowded into Our Lady of Mount Carmel Banquet Hall on Tuesday were urged to “turn remembrance of a day of tragedy into a day of hope and caring” on the sixth anniversary of terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

That was the part of the benediction offered by Major James Foley of the Salvation Army at the Youngstown/Mahoning Valley’s 10th annual Breakfast of Champions and Day of Caring.

The “champions” honored at the breakfast are the United Way volunteers. There was also another champion in another arena in attendance Tuesday: Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik of Youngstown, who will fight Sept. 29 for the World Boxing Council Middleweight championship.

Pavlik thanked the volunteers for their “dedication, commitment and time,” and said “the more you do for the community, the better off we all are.”

Pavlik was presented a commemorative Wheaties cereal box with his picture on it by JoAnn Stock, United Way director of marketing and resource development.

“Maybe after you win, you’ll be on the real thing,” she said to Pavlik.

Another guest at the breakfast, Mayor Jay Williams, called the Day of Caring “momentous. It is truly amazing what can be accomplished in one day.”

“The Day of Caring shows how important volunteers are to the success of our agencies,” said Don Cagigas, United Way president and chief professional officer.

After an 8 a.m. breakfast, teams of volunteers from 60 local businesses, schools, organizations and agencies went out in the rain to complete service projects at 42 locations throughout the community.

Tuesday’s event also kicked off the local United Way’s 2007 general campaign, chaired by Doug Sweeney, which has a goal of $2.9 million.

The major challenge in a competitive economy is to get people to donate who have never given to United Way, said Sweeney, of Sweeney Buick Pontiac GMC and Chevrolet. He urged employers to host United Way meetings and make it possible for employees to give through payroll deduction.

United Way provides an organized way to make a real difference in the Mahoning Valley that no one individual could accomplish, Sweeney said.

While acknowledging the $2.9 million goal will be difficult, Sweeney noted that the campaign was gotten off to a good start by the early Pacesetter campaigns and advance gifts.

Richard C. Stevens, Pacesetter chairman, reported that the Pacesetter effort generated $961,000, or about 33 percent of the campaign’s total goal. Of the 73 business, schools and other organizations that participated agreed to “set the pace,” Stevens said at least 12 increased their employee and/or corporate gift by more than 10 percent.

alcorn@vindy.com