Published: August 27, 2008 01:56 pm      

United Way works to reach $2M goal

Staring at the expectant faces in front of her, Tina Lovegrove found herself unable to speak.

Despite 15 years of experience motivating her peers, Lovegrove found it difficult to talk about the 2008 United Way Campaign.

“These were all strangers sitting there staring at me wanting a story,” she recalled. “I actually wasn’t breathing to where I literally could ... hardly speak.”

Gradually she gained her composure as friend Tabitha Boley stepped in. Together the pair addressed employees of Howard Regional Health System about the 17 agencies supported by United Way of Howard County.

Since June, the two first-time loaned associates have been traveling to different businesses rallying support for the United Way, a non-profit organization that raises and distributes funding to agencies such as the YMCA, Bona Vista, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Carver Community Center, American Red Cross, Literacy Coalition and the Family Service Association.

The two women from United Auto Workers Local 685 will spend the next several months giving speeches, attending events and [they hope] raising enough money to reach the 2008 United Way goal of $2 million.

With approval from Local 685, the duo will work full time for United Way through December. Lovegrove and Boley are two of 11 loaned associates who will work with the non-profit organization this year.

“I didn’t know anything about United Way ... I now think United Way is the best thing in our community,” Lovegrove said.

Boley said she didn’t realize she and her family benefited from United Way agencies.

“My children participate in activities at the [YMCA]. They take swimming lessons,” she said.

There are also benefits she wishes she’d known about and hopes to promote for other families, such as the Bona Vista early assessment program.

Boley learned her son had a hearing problem when he was 4-years-old.

“That’s when I found out he was a really good lip reader,” Boley said.

Had she known about the program, Boley said it would have been easier to handle when he was younger. She hopes other parents take advantage of the program.

Mike Federspill, a loaned associate from Ivy Tech Community College, said United Way is available for the unexpected. Federspill said United Way can help families cope with job loss, a sudden tragedy or illness.

“I know what United Way does to better help the community,” Federspill. “I plan to raise my child or children here. They’ll probably live here for the first 18 years. I want to help make it the best place for them to live in.”

For more information on the United Way of Howard County, or to make a donation, call 457-6691 or visit the organization’s Web site at unitedwayhoco.org.