By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Oct. 22, 2002
The United Way of East Mississippi has collected about 35 percent of this year's $800,000 fund-raising goal.
And with a $5,000 donation Monday from the Meridian Rotary Club and another $5,400 recently from Riley Hospital, United Way continues to inch closer to its goal.
The next scheduled employee meeting with United Way representatives is Oct. 31 at the Pennington, Ala., Georgia-Pacific paper mill.
This year, United Way of East Mississippi has expanded its fund-raising efforts in areas it's agencies serve, but where donations have not been aggressively solicited before.
Some of the businesses and companies that have launched United Way fund-raising campaigns have offered unique incentives to get their employees involved.
Steve Nichols, chief executive officer of Riley Hospital, is a staunch Ole Miss fan who said he bleeds red-and-blue.
But Nichols has pledged to wear a Mississippi State University T-shirt and a University of Alabama cap to work when hospital employees reach their United Way fund-raising goal of $10,000.
United Way of East Mississippi reached 30 percent of its fund-raising goal through its Pace-Setter campaign before its official fund-raising drive that started Sept. 17.
Pace-setter companies are businesses that begin their employee fund-raising campaigns early each year.
This year's Pace-Setter companies were: Alliance Health Center; Boeing Co.; Citizens National Bank; Dillard's; East Mississippi Correctional Facility; J.C. Penney; Jeff Anderson Regional Medical Center; Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling Co.; The Mitchell Companies; and Mississippi Power Co.