Photo submitted Steve Quinn, St. Marys Area United Way leadership committee chairman along with Nick Gismondi, United Way board chairman, display the current fundraising total of the organization’s 2009 goal of $200,000.

By Amy Cherry

Staff Writer

The St. Marys Area United Way received a boost in their annual fundraising campaign from the organization’s 2009 Leadership Club.

The 2009 Leadership Club raised  $97,155 just under half of this year’s overall goal of $200,000. As in previous year’s members of the leadership club raise nearly half of the United Way’s goal. The United Way’s current fundraising stands at $97,705 for the year.

A special celebration dinner was held Thursday at the St. Marys Country Club honoring leadership club members.

Each year the leadership committee solicits names requesting donors to contribute to the organization. Once a donor contributes $500 or more they automatically become a member of the leadership club.

There are currently 154 members of the St. Marys Area United Way Leadership Club.

The 2009 Leadership Club campaign ran from June to Sept. 1. The annual United Way fundraising campaign is scheduled to run until Jan. 15

Special recognition awards were presented to Dr. Denny Sharkey and his wife, Mary Rose. Sharkey was the first president of the leadership club. Also receiving a special award was Dave Quinn, first chairman of the leadership committee.

Pauline Olson, founder of the  St. Marys Area United Way Leadership Club in 1990, also received a special award from the organization.

Julia Reitz, United Way executive director along with Steve Quinn, current chairman of the leadership committee and Dr. Bill Conrad, leadership club member, recently presented Olson with the award during a special visit to Pinecrest.

The United Way was first established in St. Marys 56 years ago, known then as the Community Chest. The organization’s first campaign was conducted during the week of Oct. 12, 1925, with a goal of $20,000, $15,000 of which would be divided among the St. Marys Boys and Girls Club, the Boys Service Camp, the city playground, the Benevolent Fund of the Woman’s Club, the St. Marys Band and the Tuberculosis Society. The remaining $5,000 was part of a surplus fund available for less fortunate years and for any unexpected emergency.

The theme of this inaugural campaign was “A Heart for All and All for the Heart.” J.D. Ramsey acted as the first campaign president.

The Community Chest received its articles of incorporation on Jan. 12, 1926, listing Philip Young, E.J. Hammer, J.D. Ramsey, M.A. Orr, J.E. Jackson and John Gross as incorporators.

The articles contained 10 pages listing 1,428 individual members of the organization.

By 1945 the Chest was raising $30,000 annually and by 1953 that goal increased to $36,325.

The Community Chest merged into the United Fund in 1958. From 1953 to 1958 both the United Fund and the Community Chest existed simultaneously in the St. Marys area.

New organizations were added to the United Fund in 1965. They included Crippled Children, American Cancer Society, Historical Society, Psychiatric Center, Safety Patrol, the Salvation Army, Burial Detail and Youth Council. That year’s goal was $77,947.

The United Fund’s name changed to the United Way in 1973 in order to remain consistent with the movement on a national level.