United Way Hosts Annual Meeting and 90th Anniversary Celebration

United Way of Summit County held its Annual Meeting and 90th Anniversary Celebration last night at the John S. Knight Center and announced that the 2007 United Way/Red Cross campaign met the aggressive goal of $11,372,000, representing an increase of about 2% over last year’s campaign. Additional funds are expected, but have not been received yet.

Campaign Chair Thomas J. Strauss, President & CEO of Summa Health System, told the crowd of more than 350 about the tens of thousands of donors and the hundreds of volunteers who made this success possible. “Throughout this year, as I witnessed countless volunteers giving so passionately of their time and effort, I was reminded of the quote, ‘the miracle is this – the more we share, the more we have,’” Strauss said.

Several companies were recognized for their outstanding support of United Way and the entire community. The Spirit of Caring Award, given annually to a local company that demonstrates outstanding corporate community involvement, was presented to ExxonMobil Chemical (formerly known as Advanced Elastomer Systems). Two outstanding companies were acknowledged for raising more than $1 million for United Way of Summit County. Cornerstone Awards were presented to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and FirstEnergy Corporation.

The organization also presented its 2008 Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) to Charles M. ‘Chip’ Billow and Richard C. ‘Rick’ Fedorovich. The DSA has been presented annually since 1959 to individuals who consistently demonstrate the highest degree of interest, personal dedication and service in a volunteer capacity to the improvement of health, welfare and education Summit County.

Other awards presented at the Annual Meeting included the Community Builder Award, presented annually to an individual who makes a measurable difference in the community through United Way’s Community Investment process, given to Bruce Rowland; The Young Philanthropist of the Year Award to Donald J. Pavlik; and the Lorry Vishnia Staff Excellence Award to Brenda J. Cox and Jacqueline A. Pritchard.

Twelve new members were elected onto United Way of Summit County’s Board of Directors: Kenneth Dorsett, FirstMerit Bank; Steven L. Farnsworth, Hudson City Schools; Valerie A. Geiger, National City Bank; Dennis Gladin, GoJo Industries; Jay T. Griffith, ExxonMobil Chemical; Phillip Kane, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; Randy S. Katz, City Scrap & Salvage; James J. Keeslar, Brockman, Coats, Gedelian & Co.; Rabbi David A. Lipper, Temple Israel; Brian J. Moore, Roetzel & Andress; Kathleen A. Rice, Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital-Summa; and Jeff E. Rovnak, Morgan Stanley.

United Way of Summit County President Bob Kulinski said, “I’m very proud of this community for coming together to reach this goal even in these challenging economic times. Our staff and the hundreds of committed volunteers, under the inspired leadership of Tom Strauss, worked tirelessly to ensure we can help our affiliated agencies do more of what they do and do it better.”

Thomas A. Mandel, President of Rubber City Radio Group and Chair of the United Way of Summit County Board of Director said, “As this organization marks its 90th Anniversary, it’s making some significant changes in how it does business. The way we did things in 1918 wouldn’t work for us today, and frankly neither would the way we did things in 1990. Every business has to change and keep up with the times. United Way of Summit County is utilizing modern technology in addition to the face-to-face ask to stay connected with donors and potential donors.”

United Way of Summit County improves lives by mobilizing community assets for health and human services. For more information, call 330-762-7601, visit our website at www.uwsummit.org, or write to us at United Way of Summit County, 90 N. Prospect St., P.O. Box 1260, Akron, Ohio 44309-1260.