More than $80,000 raised for Red Cross
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on April 6, 2007 1:45 PM
Local "heroes" raised a total of $82,417 for the Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross this year.
The announcement was made at a Heroes Campaign wrap-up luncheon Thursday.
With beach balls, balloon fish and beach pails and shovels hanging from the ceiling, the Red Cross celebrated surpassing this year's goal of $80,000. Various colors of cutout flip-flops containing the names of the 2007 heroes "walked" across the wall.
Director Chuck Waller recognized those who have been five-year heroes. They were Wayne Alley, Glenn Barnes, Gail Charles, Glenn Chitty, Donna Edmundson, Dora Perry, Efton Sager, Fontaine Swinson, Chuck Umstead, Allison Pridgen and Wes Waller. Each received a plaque.
The winners of the schools' Pennies For A Purpose contest were also announced. Elementary school winners were Edgewood Developmental School, first, with a purple water jug decorated with pink hearts with pictures in them; and Northwest Elementary, second, with a gold water jug with a blue strip in the middle with drawings of children on it.
Eastern Wayne Elementary was the middle school winner with a water jug decorated to resemble a globe with children holding hands on it.
Charles B. Aycock won the high school division with a red water jug with white rectangle-shaped pieces of paper with red crosses on them.
Waller said this is the fourth year of Pennies For A Purpose and that there was a lot more school participation this year.
He also noted that the goal of the very first Heroes Campaign held in 2003 was $25,000. "Before that, the most we ever made on any fund-raiser was $11,000." Together, the five Heroes Campaigns have raised a total of $300,000.
During the celebration, a campaign salute video was shown. A tribute to those that stretch themselves was the theme.
Waller said that during the entire campaign, one word continued to resonate through the Red Cross chapter -- stretched. He said while the Heroes Campaign was going on during March, the chapter still had to collect blood. It still had to teach CPR classes in the community. It still had to be available for victims of fires and to respond to emergency military calls.
Concluding the campaign wrap-up luncheon, Waller said, "It doesn't happen without you."
Money raised during the Heroes Campaign goes to local services provided by the Red Cross chapter.