United Way of Marquette County needs your help

The United Way of Marquette County needs your help in order to reach this year’s goal of $425,000.

Reductions in staff size at some of the larger workplaces in the area have chipped away at its fundraising efforts, leaving the non-profit 15% short of its benchmark.

Employee pledges like payroll deductions, make up 95% of the campaign totals. But, those numbers are down, making the need for additional funding that much greater.

“More this year than any other year, there’s been a lot of people who have lost their jobs or fear being laid off because of a company moving or something. They’re pulling in the reins a little bit and rightly so,” noted Mark Canale, Co-chair of the United Way of Marquette County. “Now, we can really use everyone in the county to pitch in and send us a few dollars if they’re at all capable and able to do so.”

“A lot of us get four or five things in our mailbox, every week, asking for money for this and that. I try to give a little bit to everybody,” remarked Christine Pesola, Co-chair of the United Way of Marquette County. “One of the things that I have really learned to love about the United Way is that it all goes into this one pot. By me writing that one check, I can affect all 29 agencies. We happen to have 29 this year, but it could be 30, it could be 28. That’s pretty exciting.”

Although workplace campaigns are still in high demand, any little bit helps the 9,000 to 10,000 people in need.

One agency, in particular, needs the funding in order to survive.

“Cancer Care is an all volunteer group, so we’d like to say that we spend less than 2% on overhead. Overhead is our stamps and our paper. Everything else gets spent on our neighbors and friends in Marquette County,” said Laura Korte, Secretary of Cancer Care of Marquette County. “One lady needed shots that would cost her $2,100 a month, and she had no insurance. We paid for those for a couple of weeks, but then one of our Patient Care Coordinators negotiated with a drug company to get the cost reduced to $10 a month for her. We can make a better use of our money. We can use the money for somebody else, instead of $2,100 for one person every time they need help.”

If you want to help, checks can be sent to the United Way at P. O. Box 73 in Marquette, or  you can call in a pledge at 906-226-8171. You can even stop into their office in Lakeview Arena to make a donation in person.