United Way to meet its objective

The United Way of Bourbon County board of directors "feels fortunate" that the organization can fulfill the budgeted amount for its 16 agencies this year, a news release said.

Although current donations to United Way of Bourbon County are below its $104,000 goal, all approved spending will be handled, the release said. A total of $96,500 has already been pledged and collected to date with an additional $5,600 in anticipated gifts to come by year's end.

The board voted, based on the current economy and the increased burden on the agencies served, if the full $104,000 is not collected, the shortfall will be made up by administrative reserves held within the United Way. This year's drive was chaired Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott.

"All of our agencies are so important and need the funding so badly that we had to vote to carry through with the previously approved allocations," said United Way President Jolynne Stainbrook.

Board member Millie Lipscomb said she hopes additional donations will still come in for this year's campaign, although " it makes us realize we won't have as much to allocate for next year."

Money raised this year will benefit the Salvation Army, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Fort Scott Hospitality Fund, 4-H Fair, Bourbon County Senior Citizen's, Boy Scouts, Cerebral Palsy of Kansas, Bourbon County Red Cross, Tri-Valley Developmental Center, Legal Services of SEK, Crisis Center of SEK, Respite Services, Resource Center for Independent Living (RCIL), Keyhole Youth Center, Mother to Mother and The Sharing Bucket.

Each agency funded by the United Way during this year's campaign delivered packets from the agency to local businesses and were asked to share their knowledge about the Bourbon County United Way and their specific agency with the company and its employees.

Each year at the end of the campaign, everyone who has donated or pledged has a chance to win one of the traveling plaques. The outcome is based on the total number employees divided by the total amount donated by the employees, the release said.

This year's winners were:

Commercial: Citizens Bank.

Industrial: Westar Energy.

Professional: Diehl Banwart Bolton CPAs.

Public: USD 234, Fort Scott.

Additional plaques were awarded in the following categories:

Over the Top Award: Fort Scott School Student Council.

In-kind/Employee Participation Award: Ward/Kraft Inc.

Off and Running Award: Westar Energy.

"The award seems very redundant year after year, but we can never thank Ward/Kraft Inc. enough for the donation of a tremendous amount of printed forms and materials for each year's campaign. They help keep our fundraising costs low, which results in more money to our representative agencies. We also would like thank the Tribune and KMDO for sharing the good news about United Way, as well as John and Cindy Bartelsmeyer and their staff at Bartelsmeyer Jewelry for their in-kind gift of engraving our plaques," Stainbrook said.