The United Way of Greater Rochester is closing out what it says was a successful campaign, and now setting its sights on this year’s fundraising effort.
The organization raised $34.4 million last year, compared to $30 million the year before.
United Way President and CEO Jaime Saunders said that although the overall economy may be in pretty good shape right now, there are still some big needs the organization is trying to address.
“While the economy is showing upticks for certain areas, we know also as a community (that)we face challenges and when we come together we can truly make a difference and that’s what we see here with the United Way and those who are giving to the campaign,” Saunders said.
A lot of the campaign fundraising comes through area businesses and other organizations. Saunders says even though Kodak, Xerox and Bausch and Lomb aren’t the sort of major drivers of employee donations as they were a number of years ago, there are still many area businesses and other groups who have filled that gap.
“Yes, there have been changes at the ‘Big 3’, and we think our big campaign partners now reflect that change. We have Wegmans and U of R and ESL and others that are stepping up, more than 800 companies in Monroe County, 1,400 across the region,” Saunders said.
The local United Way now focuses on three areas: health, education and economic mobility, which it says are the building blocks needed to help the Rochester area thrive.
Julie Camardo, CEO of Zweigles, is chair of the 2020 United Way campaign.
