Stillwater, OKLA. - More than 400 volunteers will gather Thursday morning for the 10th annual United Way Day of Caring breakfast at the Sirloin Stockade before heading out to 35 work sites around the community, according to Kimberly Sinclair, Stillwater National Bank and Day of Caring chair.
This is the official kick off to the 53rd United Way campaign in Stillwater. This year’s goal is $740,000 to help 25 agencies. Chairing this year’s campaign are Richard and Marti Dermer, owners of The Hideaway, with Natalea Watkins, retired, assisting. The campaign graphics feature kites to reflect this year’s theme, “Fly, the United Way”.
Assisting with the campaign are Kenny Josey, BancFirst, chairing the Loaned Executives division; Amjad Ayoubi and Bob Dixon, heading the OSU campaign; Steve Norman, Edward Jones Investments, leading the Professional Division; and Larry Secrest, Quebecor World, coordinating the Industry division. Karen Flack, Stillwater Designs KICKER, chairs the Hi Tech division; Regina Hall, Success By 6, will contact child care providers; Mayor Bud Lacy, OSU, will head the residential portion of the drive. Terri Collier, BancFirst, is president of the United Way board of directors.
At noon Thursday, Day of Caring volunteers will gather at the Courthouse lawn for a hamburger cookout as part of the United Way kick off. The public is invited to have a hamburger cooked by their favorite attorney from the District Attorney’s office. The $5 hamburger lunch will include a drink; chips, compliments James Hall of Frito-Lay, and the Girl Scouts are providing cookies for dessert. Seating will be provided by the Payne County employees who are hosting the event.
Hideaway owners Richard and Marti Dermer have challenged all the restaurants in town to provide diners on Thursday with an envelope and a request to make a donation to the United Way. The wait staff at each restaurant will be asked to give an envelope to donors when they receive a menu, so as not to impact the tips of the wait staff. At the end of the day, United Way donations will be tallied, by restaurant, and the winning restaurant will receive a pizza party from Then Hideaway! “This is a fun way to raise the awareness about the United Way and the many lives touched by the United Way agencies,” the Dermers explain.
Every year, the single largest contribution to the Stillwater Area United Way comes from the Brunswick Foundation, which represents the local Mercury MerCruiser facility. The local Mercury MerCruiser facility is the largest commercial supporter of the Stillwater Area United Way, Inc. with approximately 1,000 employees. In addition to conducting the annual employee campaign, MerCruiser sponsors the Fab Four United Way Golf Classic, the Day of Caring tee shirts, they provide bottles of water to each worker on the Day of Caring and they have book fairs, jewelry shows and auctions to support the local United Way campaign. Teri Smith, director of training at MerCruiser, was last year’s community wide campaign chair and will serve as President of the United Way board of Directors in 2006. Pat Crane, director of Quality, is a member of the United Way board and serves on the accreditation and allocation committees.
“We certainly appreciate the tremendous support of Mercury MerCruiser, “notes Mrs. Watkins. “They are outstanding corporate citizens in our community,” she adds.
Stillwater National Bank will hold their “Big Splash” event on Monday, according to Renee Bodine and Penny Holt, SNB coordinators. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a dunk tank will be set up on the lawn of the SNB Convenience Center at 3rd and Main Streets. Various SNB officers and other community leaders have graciously “volunteered” to be in the dunk tank. Hot dogs and soft drinks will be for sale and Richard and Marti Dermer will be flying kites for the community and the United Way. “This is a FUN way to spend a Monday lunch”, points out Shelley Ricker, United Way executive director. SNB will have their United Way employee campaign on Tuesday with group meetings and presentations by United Way representatives. Other company campaigns are currently underway throughout the community, too.
Mrs. Watkins and Patricia Ayoubi, OSU, have volunteered their time to totally revise the Stillwater United Way website. It is very informative with information about the local United Way as well as a directory of all the agencies included. There are lots of helpful hints on how to help the local United Way, too. The website is secure and contributions may be made online, with a credit card. The website address is www.stillwaterunitedway.org. Next week, the locally produced video will be added to the website. Lots of kite lore and kite facts are included on the website, too.
The video was provided by the Institute for Teaching and Learning Excellence at OSU. Mrs. Watkins wrote and directed the video. John Sanders filmed and edited the eight minute production. Copies of the video are available at the United Way office to show to civic and employee groups. The video will be shown on local cable channels, too. United Way and Day of Caring will be the topic on the Morning Edition on local cable channel 3 (TV-31) Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. Cristy Morrison and Casey Kendrick host the local show.
Wednesday morning at 7:15, United Way will be the topic on Stillwater Radio. In addition, Stillwater Radio will broadcast at the Day of Caring lunch on the Courthouse lawn on Thursday. Interviews with Day of Caring volunteers, agency directors and campaign volunteers can be heard between noon and 1 p.m. on Stillwater Radio station 105.5.
Ben Franklin is probably the most famous person associated with a kite since he discovered electricity with a kite and a key. And, Ben Franklin’s face is on the $100 dollar bill. Donors will be asked to consider giving a “Ben Franklin” to the United Way campaign or to increase their giving by a “Ben Franklin”, in honor of our country’s founding father.
Another way for donors to increase their giving this year is to donate their Oklahoma tax rebate, in November, to the United Way. Single tax filers will be receiving a $45 rebate while joint filers will receive a $90 rebate.
Since 1952, the local United Way has raised $13 million which has been invested right back into the community to help folks in need. Because of the continued funding by United Way, local agencies like Red Cross and Salvation Army were prepared and ready to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at a moments notice. In addition to giving to hurricane relief efforts, donors are being asked to continue their support of the United Way so that ongoing needs in the community can be met.
Contributions to the Stillwater Area United Way may be made in person at the United Way office, 109 East 9th Avenue in Downtown Stillwater, by mail to P. O. Box 308 and online at our secure website, www.stillwaterunitedway.org., or by calling 377-2161.
