Courage to care: United Way campaign entering home stretch

It's crunch time.
The United Way of Wayne County is only a couple of weeks away from the end of its 2008 campaign.
The goal was to raise enough money to affect the lives of more than 28,000 Wayne County residents who might not otherwise be able to find the help they need.
And while there have been many success stories this year and many local businesses and their employees who have stepped up to offer their assistance, there is still a bit more road to travel before this community is able to say we have reached that goal.
And that is where we all come in.
This has not been an easy year to open up your wallet and to think about someone else's needs. Many of us are facing tighter budgets and more concerns about the future.
That means there is more of a tendency than ever to put your money in a sock under your bed rather than to share it with someone else.
And it also makes it more difficult for employers who are worried about their own businesses' futures and making sure they are able to stay out of the red long enough to weather these tougher than usual economic times, to add the worry of a United Way campaign to their to-do lists.
But this is one of those years when we are going to have to ask you to try. We are all going to have to dig deep, to trust in the future and to be there for those who need our help this year -- even if it requires a deep gulp of courage as you sign your payroll deduction form or write a check.
Because, like it or not and this year more than ever, the greatest resource of strength we have is one another.
This community has weathered tough times before. We have cried together through tragedies and joined hands when we needed to rally around each other. We have even been there for people hundreds of miles away when they needed help.
We know how to come together when the going gets tough.
That is what you do when you are a community.
And now is one of those times when we all need to stand up and get this job done.
Those who still need to get their United Way campaigns done this year still have time to get them completed and the paperwork turned in to make the Dec. 4 deadline.
Those who have been on the fence about doing one at all still have time to ask their employees to help out. There are ready, willing and able volunteers at the United Way office who are available right now to tell you why your contributions matter so much to Wayne County families.
It is not going to be an easy couple of weeks. There is still a lot of work to get done.
But if there ever was a community capable of pulling off a miracle -- even in the toughest of times -- this is the one.
All we have to do is believe.

Published in Editorials on November 16, 2008 12:35 AM