Community members gathered at the Mesa Hilton recently to kick off the Mesa United Way annual fund drive.
The Mesa chapter of the United Way, one of the world’s most renowned charitable organizations, raised more than $4 million last year.
The 10 colleges in the Maricopa Community Colleges District generally contribute considerably to the fundraiser.
However, MCC is at the bottom of the scale as far as its charitable contributions are concerned.
Executive assistant to the president of MCC, Janet Felton, feels that more has to be done to entice students at the college to get involved and donate a few dollars to help those less fortunate.
“Our goal is to raise $27,000. If each student were to give at least $1 we could meet that goal,” Felton said.
A number of events are going to be held around campus to encourage students to give.
A Halloween costume drawing at the Kirk Center Oct. 31 that will offer tickets for $3 is one such event.
Felton did not single out students for not giving; she also said she believes faculty members should do more to help the community.
“By giving, you invest in your community,” she said.
Automatic payroll deductions are available to faculty and staff so employees can have money removed from their salaries at each pay period, and the money can go to help the United Way.
The Maricopa County school that has led the district in donations is Estrella Mountain Community college.
“They do a really good job at getting their students involved,” Felton said. She also noted that they hold raffles for things like new cars and other extravagant prizes.
“United Way money goes to roughly 100 organizations that give to about 500 nonprofit organizations. The list of those who are helped includes disaster victims, impoverished people and many others who are affected by troubling circumstances,” Armon Williams, a former United Way employee, stated.
“They extend a helping hand, and do their best to help those who can’t help themselves,” Williams added.
Williams believes everyone who can lend a helping hand should because people never know when they’ll need help of their own.
Coleen Niemann, director of marketing for the Mesa United Way, said it is very important for MCC to get involved because it is a local organization, and she feels that all such organizations should do their part to help the community at large. “The United Way is a core service that makes up the fabric of the community,” Niemann said. “Most of (MCC’s) faculty is adjunct, so they don’t really get a chance to know what things are going on,” Niemann added, and expressed her feeling that the United Way should do more to involve the community at the college.