United Ways miss ’09 targets: Lee, Whiteside
 counties fall about $100K short of goal

Both the Lee and Whiteside County United Way campaigns have fallen short of their goals, but based on their histories, both are likely to hit all or most of their target by year’s end.

Whiteside County raised $600,000 in pledges, leaving it about $110,000 short of a $710,000 goal.

Lee County raised about $359,000 of its $465,000 goal, leaving it about $106,000 shy.

Pledges still are being gathered and will be taken through the end of the year.

Both goals were the same as last year’s.

“Our fundraising efforts are falling right in line with previous years,” Jim Dixon, Lee County’s campaign co-chairman, said in a news release.

“In the past four years, we have reached 70 percent and greater of our goal, and then announced 100 percent of the goal at our January celebration. We are on track,” Dixon said.

“In these last weeks of the year and in this campaign, every quarter, dime and nickel counts,” Dixon said. “Twenty-eight agencies are counting on this community for support, and thousands of people are counting on those agencies for services.”

Ninety-nine percent of the money United Way raises stays in the county and is distributed among a wide variety of nonprofit organizations: 20 in Whiteside County and 28 in Lee.

To donate

United Way of Whiteside County, P.O. Box 806, Sterling, IL 61081; uwwhiteside.org or 815-625-7973.

United Way of Lee County, P.O. Box 382, Dixon, IL 61021, 815-284-3339.