COLUMBUS, Ind. — As the thermometer outside dips, the makeshift thermometer measuring the progress of the United Way of Bartholomew County annual fundraising campaign rises steadily.
Ideally, United Way President Mark Stewart would like to see it campaign contributions increase a lot during the Christmas season.
The thermometer graphic, placed at various locations around Columbus over the past few months to publicize the effort, shows the campaign at $2,282,987 or 55 percent of its $4 million goal in the campaign that continues through March.
Stewart has continued emphasizing the same message he delivered at the campaign kickoff on Sept. 11: that United Way’s 17 agencies that lead 34 programs desperately need the public’s support “now more than ever before.”
“It’s certainly been a tough year,” Stewart said, referring to local business closings and layoffs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s definitely an uphill challenge. But there’s still lots of enthusiasm in the community.”
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
