The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Barb Kaus, 2012 Greater Mankato United Way campaign chair, announces Tuesday that the charity's $1.93 million goal had been reached. John Cross

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  • Laura Bowman is the executive director of the United Way in Mankato.

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  • Patrick Van Osdel volunteered through the United Way mentor program.

    Van Osdel, Patrick.jpg

January 24, 2012

United Way reaches its $1.93 million goal

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And increased giving rate and more company-wide giving campaigns helped the Mankato Area United Way reached its fundraising goal of $1.93 million.

United Way officials made the announcement Tuesday, saying the $1.93 million was 3.5 percent higher than the previous year. In addition to the 39 new companies launching employee giving programs, 88 companies increased the amount they give.

Donations per person was up by more than $10 per person, while the total number of donors roughly equal to last year’s number (and could go past last year’s numbers once all companies have reported their numbers.)

Thanks in part to the successful campaign, Mankato Area United Way Executive Director Laura Bowman said they’ll be able to give money to 60 programs across 39 agencies. And a few of those programs will get a funding increase.

The YMCA’s School-Based Mentoring Program, the YWCA’s Girls on the Run program, and the Feeding Our Communities BackPack Food Program all will see increased funding as a result of the 2012 fundraising campaign.

Not all the United Way’s impact is financial, though. Patrick Van Osdel, a new mentor in the YMCA’s mentoring program, said he’d long thought giving back to his community strictly meant writing a check. But after getting involved in the mentoring program, he realized how much spending time with someone can mean.

The Y’s mentoring program simply asks mentors to spend one lunch per week with the kids, so that’s what Van Osdel started doing. Not long into his work, he had a conversation with his young partner that illustrated the wisdom of his decision

He recalled that, a few weeks earlier, the young man said to him at lunch, “She was right. You are a good match for me,” the boy said, referring to the teacher that paired them up. “We have fun together.”

He was accompanied back to his office, he said, by a few tear drops.

Bowman said that, heading into this year, they knew there would be some challenges. Nonprofits in general are struggling to raise money. Some are struggling to survive.

But Bowman said she’s always believed in the spirit of the people in this community, and they’re rarely let her down.

“We raise more money than almost every United Way our size in the country,” she said. “I truly believe people are responding to our mission.”

 

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