United Way of Hunterdon County Holds Annual Meeting 2005

On June 9th, the United Way of Hunterdon County held its Annual Meeting to elect new members to the Board of Trustees, discuss the results of the 2004-2005 campaign and to highlight United Way funding and 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, BOC, Chiron, Clinton Holiday Inn Select, Geoffrey Close of Morgan Stanley, Commerce Bank, ExxonMobil, Herder-Tarricone, Hunterdon County Democrat, Hunterdon Medical Center, Medisys Health Communications, Merck & Company Inc., Peapack-Gladstone Bank and Sprint.

Don Pinner, 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. 

Dennis Cox reported that United Way of Hunterdon County has projected to raise $1.32 million in Hunterdon County during the 2004-2005 campaign. Dennis explained how strong this campaign was during a time when our economy has not been very steady and at a time when charitable donations is at an all time high. In fact, many neighboring United Way's and hundreds of local businesses and community organizations are having double digit revenue losses. However, the community in Hunterdon County has truly rallied around our local United Way, Cox said.

Several members of the 2004-2005 Board were recognized for their tireless efforts during the past year. Don Pinner thanked his fellow Board members for their commitment to our community. He presented the Executive Committee; Karen Tarricone, vice president of community impact; James Robinson, vice president of resource development; Alice Brydia, treasurer; Liz Schmid, secretary; Dr. Boris Ivovich, nominating committee chair; Frank McElroy, President-elect; and Alan Ford, member at large, with a small token of his appreciation. He also recognized outgoing Board members, Terry Martin, Jim Robinson and Karen Tarricone. 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Dennis Cox and Alice Brydia presented awards to local companies for their outstanding contributions to the 2004-2005 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 two companies that received this award were Chubb & Son and Hunterdon Medical Center. 

   ¨Several companies were awarded  the Award of Excellence which is recognition for giving levels of $100 and above per employee.  The winners included ExxonMobil Research & Engineering, Girl Scouts - Rolling Hills Council, Hunterdon Prevention Resources, Medisys Health Communications, Merck & Company, Morgan Stanley, New York Life Insurance, Sun National Bank and United Way of Hunterdon County. 

   ¨The Hunterdon Youth Facility and Lebanon Borough School were both recognized with the Youth Award for volunteerism. The youth of the facility and the students at Lebanon Borough School have lent their time to do projects that put their skills to good use and helped to support United Way of Hunterdon County.

Rev. Mark Summer highlighted the funding that had been provided this past year to assist programs in our community focused on helping those in need. He thanked the 26 United Way certified member agencies for their commitment.

The annual meeting was culminated by introducing the incoming President, Frank McElroy. Frank is the Manager of Research Support at ExxonMobil where he has worked for the past 28 years. He and his wife have lived in Hunterdon County since 1984.

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.