Inspector Sheri Meeks leading the charge for United Way’s 2020 Fundraising Campaign – kicking off today!

United Way Hastings & Prince Edward launches its annual fundraising drive with a volunteer campaign cabinet set for success.  Inspector Sheri Meeks with the Belleville Police Service was announced as the 2020 Campaign Chair.

“We knew we needed a remarkable team behind us this year with strong leadership, passion and commitment to community,” said Brandi Hodge, Executive Director, United Way HPE. “We are so excited to announce that Inspector Sheri Meeks of the Belleville Police Service is Chairing the 2020 Fundraising campaign and the team that has been recruited to assist her is outstanding.”

Volunteer Campaign Cabinet Members are:

Hilary Murphy—Taskforce Engineering Inc.

Deputy Chief Carl Bowker—Hastings-Quinte Paramedic Services

Liz Knuude—BMO Nesbitt Burns

MWO Derek Gauthier—CFB 8 Wing Trenton

Major Aarthi Prabhakaran—CFB 8 Wing Trenton

Jessica Salmon—Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board

Dan McCullough—Magna Lighting/AutoSystems

Harold Brennan—McDougall Insurance

Donna McKeown—Community Living Belleville and Area

 

For the first time in the history of the organization, United Way Hastings & Prince Edward has opted to not set a goal for the 2020 fundraising campaign choosing instead to use last years totals as a benchmark.

“The goal setting process in a typical year is very strategic & intentional.  Its one that considers trends within workplaces, current economic climate, the growth of the community, the success of special events, and the general capacity of the community to support the campaign,” said Hodge. “This year is proving to be unpredictable at best – so we’ve opted to benchmark this current campaign against last year’s achievement as we move throughout the coming months and we’ll raise as much as we possibly can.”

The 2019 campaign raised over $1.95 million. Inspector Sheri Meeks, the 2020 Volunteer Campaign Chair explained the campaign can not focus on the goal this year, but instead focus on the need.   “We need to do our absolute best as a community to care for people who are vulnerable this year; many who are newly vulnerable and who may never have defined themselves that way prior to now,” said Meeks. “We have always been a community that looks after each other, and we will continue to be.  Our hope is that those who can help, will.”

With last year’s achievement more than 41 agencies and 62 programs were funded; organizers anticipate the need will climb rapidly over the coming months. “We know that we need to raise more than $1.95 million to simply stay consistent with last years level of support – and we’re confident that we’ll get close—we live in a remarkable community that supports each other,” said Hodge. “Fundraising during a pandemic will not be easy. No doubt about it. But we’re up for the challenge. Why? Because our community needs us, now more than ever!”

In a letter to the community Meeks and Hodge outline their approach to this years campaign:

• Teamwork – we’ve surrounded ourselves with people who can help us and who understand & care about this community. Our volunteer campaign cabinet is strong and committed to success.
• Creativity & Innovation – we’ve developed materials that effectively tell the United Way story differently. We may not be able to be face to face with donors, but we can still provide the information they need to make a decision about their charitable giving.
• Transparency – we commit to keeping the community informed all along the way benchmarking this year’s success against last year’s achievement.
• Boldness – our community needs us now more than ever – we’re going to respectfully ask those who can help, to please do so.
• Realism- we understand that these are different times- unprecedented, so in our approach, we will also promise to be realistic and respectful of economic challenges faced by our supporters