The annual NDSU United Way of Cass-Clay campaign has begun. Unit coordinators are in the process of contacting employees, seeking their participation and providing information. NDSU’s 2012 United Way campaign goal is $111,200 – a 3 percent increase from last year.
In a letter to university personnel, President Dean L. Bresciani urged employees to contribute. “The people of NDSU have a strong, proud history of stepping up to help others,” he wrote. “As a land-grant institution, we have a tradition of reaching out to serve others and that heritage is intertwined with our personal compassion and respect for our neighbors. It is in our nature to care.”
United Way donations fund 75 programs of 43 local agencies. NDSU employees will again have the opportunity to contribute electronically, through ePledging. Online pledging ends Dec. 14.
This year, United Way of Cass-Clay added an education component to its campaign board for the first time. Professor Kevin McCaul was named to represent NDSU, and he also leads the university’s Key Club campaign, which also is under way.
“We are an important part of the local community, and I can think of no better way to reach out to that community than through United Way,” McCaul said. “Besides that reason for donating, United Way supports an incredible range of charities in our area – our gifts have such a huge value.”
United Way programs with direct connections to NDSU include Gearing Up for Kindergarten and RSVP+, which are both directed and coordinated by university personnel. Gearing Up for Kindergarten is a parent and family education program that supports child development, school readiness and healthy parenting. RSVP+ is a federally and locally funded program that connects agencies with needs to volunteers with skills. The program’s Southern Valley section serves Cass, Barnes, Griggs, Ransom, Sargent, Richland, Steele and Traill Counties of North Dakota and Clay County of Minnesota.
Information about the NDSU United Way campaign is available at www.ndsu.edu/president/unitedwaycampaign.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
