Requests for help from the United Way’s partner agencies are up across the board by about 40 percent, said Jill Briggs, executive vice president, United Way of the Lowcountry.
“Coupled with the fact that donations to almost all of our agencies are down, that really makes this campaign extraordinarily important so they don’t end up cutting back services,” she said.
To underscore the need this year, the group planned to hold a simultaneous kick-off event for its 2009 campaign at three hospitals on Sept. 23: Hilton Head Hospital, Coastal Carolina Hospital and Beaufort Memorial Hospital. The 2009 campaign goal is $2.5 million, a major fundraising effort that will be led by campaign chairs in three parts of the area: former Hilton Head Hospital CEO Elizabeth Lamkin in Hilton Head, Beaufort business owner Kevin Cuppia in Northern Beaufort County and Walter Nester of the McNair Law Firm for Bluffton and Jasper County.
The kick-off event is being incorporated with “day of caring” activities. After the events at the hospitals, United Way volunteers planned to visit the site of one of the group’s 39 partner agencies to provide assistance for the day. The campaign will also feature a new golf tournament hosted by Tradition Hilton Head in Jasper County on Oct. 10.
