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Merry Christmas, indeed

United Way of Wise County surpasses campaign goal of $450,000

By Mandy Bourgeois | Published Sunday, December 28, 2008

The United Way of Wise County received a very pleasant gift under the Christmas tree this year in the form of a campaign that went above and beyond the organization's goal set in September.

Martin Woodruff, executive director, announced Tuesday that the United Way of Wise County has thus far received $470,000 in contributions and pledges. The campaign goal was $450,000.

"I just wanted to let everyone know we hit our goal. That's important because we've made allocation pledges to our organizations," Woodruff said. "The campaign has been successful and they will be able to count on our support."

There are a few businesses, such as Poco Graphite, TXI and Wells Fargo, who haven't turned in their numbers yet. The United Way will release the final total in January.

The United Way of Wise County serves 26 local agencies and has allocated $380,000 to those agencies next year.

In the fall of 2007, the United Way set a goal of $325,000 and raised $450,000.

"This year we decided to set a goal at the same level to see if we could repeat what we did last year," Woodruff said. "The need was not going away, and we added four new agencies this year. We really needed to see if we could do that again."

With the economy's downturn this year, Woodruff admits that he was worried about hitting the goal, but when he found out in November that Devon would contribute $320,000, he was encouraged.

"When the economy started getting really bad, we weren't sure how that was going to affect Texas," Woodruff said. "I feel very thankful and humbled and appreciative in the way that everyone came through and responded. It's very nice to see a little good news during these hard economic times."

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Agencies affiliated with United Way of Wise County for 2008-2009:

American Red Cross, Chisholm Trail Chapter; Salvation Army, Bridgeport; Salvation Army, Decatur; South Wise Services; Texas Neighborhood Services, Community Services Division; Texoma Area Paratransit System; Trinity Habitat for Humanity; Wise Area Relief Mission; Wise County Committee on Aging; Boy Scouts of America, Longhorn Council; Camp Fire USA, First Texas Council; Communities in Schools of North Texas; Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains; Wise County 4-H; Child Study Center; ReadyStart; Reata Rehabilitation; Southwestern Diabetic Foundation; Texas Neighborhood Services, Headstart Division; Trinity Equine Counseling; Wise Choices Pregnancy Resources Center; Wise County Christian Counseling; CASA of Wise and Jack Counties; STAR Council on Substance Abuse; Voices Advocating for Children; Wise County Domestic Violence Task Force; and Wise Kid Care.