United Way of Hunterdon County Holds Annual Meeting 2006

On June 15th, the United Way of Hunterdon County held its Annual Meeting to elect new members to the Board of Trustees, discuss the results of their activities over the past year. The meeting, which was held at the Holiday Inn Select of Clinton, was preceded with a breakfast sponsored by 3-M, Bemis Company, BOC, Commerce Bank, Embarq (formerly Sprint), ExxonMobil Research & Engineering, Gebhardt & Kiefer, Herder-Tarricone Associates, Hunterdon County Democrat, Hunterdon Medical Center, Medisys Health Communications, Merck & Company, and Peapack-Gladstone Bank.

Frank McElroy, United Way of Hunterdon County Board President, spoke about the clear focus that United Way volunteers have on improving the lives of people in Hunterdon County. He described the passion and clear focus that drives United Way of Hunterdon County volunteers to develop and support programs that truly address some of the key issues facing our community. He highlighted the funding that had been provided this past year to assist programs in our community focused on helping those in need and thanked the 26 United Way certified member agencies for their commitment.

Mr. McElroy reported that partnerships matter. “Beyond the results achieved by these supported programs, United Way’s focus to community impact is predicated on a commitment to produce powerful results that really move the needle on many of our community’s most pressing needs.” Key members of the community attended formal presentations outlining the community impact strategy, and Community Solution Teams were convened. Specifically, United Way of Hunterdon County is now sponsoring and coordinating focus group sessions to address the six most important issues facing the county. The sessions, comprised of Community Solutions Teams, are charged with going beyond the problems, issues and needs in the community to analyze and identify the underlying root causes and linkages of the key issues confronting Hunterdon County.

Freeholder, Erik Peterson spoke on behalf of Senator Leonard Lance and the county and state legislature. Citations from the State were presented to a number of award winners.

Judy Morgan presented the nominations report and introduced the following three new members to the Board for the United Way of Hunterdon County. They are:

Lisa A. Brady
Ms. Brady is the Superintendent of the South Hunterdon Regional High School and former principal of the Hunterdon Central Regional High School. She has been a 10
year resident of Hunterdon County and resides in Lambertville, NJ. Lisa has served on numerous service organizations and associations including the NJ Principals & Supervisors Assoc., the Foundation for Educational Administration, and the Drug-Free Schools Coalition. She has played an active community role in adolescent drug and alcohol preventions as well as community service for teens.

Jason R. Hayes
Mr. Hayes returned to Hunterdon County nine years ago and is an Account Executive for The Print Shoppe. He and his wife, Christine, live in Flemington, NJ. He has served on the Finance Committee for the YMCA, and volunteered with the Flemington Area Food Pantry as well as the Somerset County Association of Young Professionals. He is an active participant of the “Kids” Community Solution Team.

Thomas D. McCloskey, Esq.
Mr. McCloskey is an attorney and partner at Fox Rothschild, LLP in Princeton. Tom serves on the National Construction Club, a non-profit organization that educates children about the construction industry. He has also served in the Southern NJ Chapter of the Leukemia-Lymphoma Society of America. He has been a United Way volunteer serving on its Fund Distribution Committee. Tom and his family have been residents in Readington Township for 3 years where he has also been a coach for the Readington Township Junior Baseball League.

The slate of officers for the 2006-2007 United Way of Hunterdon County Board of Trustees was elected as follows:

President, Frank McElroy; President Elect and Vice President Resource Development, Anna Walz; Vice President Community Impact, Alan Ford; Treasurer, Ann Kallam and Secretary, Dr. Boris Ivovich. Other committee chairs and Executive Committee members include: Nominating Committee Chair, Judith Morgan; Finance Committee Chair, Suzanne Kleinhans.

Several members of the 2005-2006 Board were recognized for their tireless efforts during the past year. Frank McElroy thanked his fellow Board members for their commitment to our community. He presented the Executive Committee; Don Pinner, Past President
Alan Ford, VP of Community Impact, Anna Walz, VP of Resource Development, Dr. Boris Ivovich, Secretary, Ann Kallam, Treasurer, Judy Morgan, Nominating Committee Chair, and Suzanne Kleinhans, Finance Committee Chair, with a small token of his appreciation.

He also recognized outgoing Board members, Alice Brydia, Dennis Cox, Don Pinner, Liz Schmid, and Dan Torrone.

Anna Walz reported that United Way of Hunterdon County has projected a flat campaign for 2005-2006. Anna explained how strong this campaign was during a time when our economy has not been very steady and at a time when charitable donations are at an all time high as well as a redirection of charitable giving to assist those ravaged by the Hurricane season last fall. In fact, many neighboring United Way’s and hundreds of local businesses and community organizations are experiencing revenue losses.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Anna Walz and Alice Brydia presented awards to local companies for their outstanding contributions to the 2005-2006 campaign. The award recipients included:

• Highest Corporate Per Capita Award: Merck & Company, Inc.
   

• Highest Employee Per Capita Award: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Co.
   

• Highest Union Per Capita Award: Independent Laboratory Employee Union - Employees of ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co.
   

• Highest Member Agency Employee Per Capita Award: Hunterdon Prevention Resources
   

• The Campaign Pillar Award was established last year to recognize companies that have made generous contributions of $50,000 or more to the United Way of Hunterdon County. This year the three companies that received this award were Chubb & So, the Hunterdon Medical Center, and Merck & Co., Inc.

Several companies were recognized for giving levels of $100 and above per employee. The Award Of Excellence winners included American Express, Anderson House, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering, Hunterdon Prevention Resources, Medisys Health Communications, Merck & Company, Morgan Stanley, New York Life Insurance, and the United Way of Hunterdon County.

“When we speak of giving back we often speak of the three “T’s” - donating time, talent and treasure. Beyond United Way’s focus on philanthropy, United Way is also focused on promoting community involvement” said Ms. Walz. She reported on the success of United Way’s volunteer programs including Day of Caring, Basket of Caring, Holiday Hands and their volunteer recognition dinner – Celebrating Community Caring. These activities generated an additional value of $134,000 for our Hunterdon Community. United Way has been focused on promoting volunteerism and leadership as expressed in her remarks, and presented these additional awards:

• The Hunterdon Youth Facility was recognized with the Youth Award for community service. The youth of the facility have lent their time to do projects that put their skills to good use and helped to support United Way of Hunterdon County.
   

• The Lebanon Borough School and ExxonMobil Research & Engineering were presented with the Spirit of Caring Award. Over the past few years, employees of ExxonMobil have extended their Day of Caring projects into a week of caring. Last year, their engaged efforts brought together 63 employees and the value of the project was estimated at approximately $14,000. Students of the Lebanon Borough School were provided many opportunities throughout the school year for the students to get involved. They held food and clothing drives, made regular intergenerational visits to Briteside II Adult Day Center, raised funds for Women’s Crisis Services and purchased backpacks for foster children. They assisted United Way with the Celebrating Community Caring event and conducted a walking school bus, to promote health & wellness in our youth. United Way commended their efforts in becoming compassionate, caring adults.

United Way of Hunterdon County has been building a caring community in our own backyard since 1982. Like other local United Ways throughout the country, United Way of Hunterdon County is independently operated and must generate all of its financial resources through the collaborative effort of its staff, volunteers and community leaders. What matters most to United Way of Hunterdon County is mobilizing the community to create sustained change in community conditions to improve lives. The community-wide fundraising campaign is focused on lending assistance to the hungry and homeless, children at-risk, people with disabilities and the elderly. The organization also supports programs for disease prevention and treatment and family support. In the last year, over 40 percent of Hunterdon County’s population benefited in some way from a program or service funded by United Way.
 

June 15, 2006