CU community members leading United Way effort both on and off campus

By Susan Lang

Several members of the Cornell community are playing key roles in the 2001 United Way of Tompkins County campaign on and off campus. Their efforts, which started last spring, are aimed at raising $1.7 million this fall. The United Way hopes that $525,000 of that amount will come from the Cornell campus campaign, which includes employees, retirees and students.

At the Cornell United Way Campaign kickoff Sept. 25 in Willard Straight Hall, members of the campaign cabinet gather, including, from left, front row: Elizabeth Rawlings, Sara Gibbons, Karen Brown, LeNorman Strong, Mary Opperman, Dennis Stein; and back row: Laura Toy, Philip McPheron, Andrea Longmire, Patty Ard, Phillip Dankert and Michael Esposito. Cabinet members missing from the photo are: Carolyn Ainslie, Carol Bader, Liz Forlenza, John Gutenberger, Susan Lang, Cathy Salino and Robin Yager. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

LeNorman Strong, assistant vice president for student and academic services, is once again chairing the United Way campaign on campus, assisted by Karen Brown, administrative assistant in the Campus Life management office. The vice chair is Carolyn Ainslie, vice president for planning and budget. Joann Gruttadaurio, a senior extension associate in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell, is president of the board of directors of United Way of Tompkins County.

The campaign was launched with the fifth annual Day of Caring, Sept. 21, and a campuswide kickoff at Willard Straight Hall Sept. 27.

"United Way is at the forefront of bringing people and resources together to meet the most urgent needs in our community," said Strong. "In this extraordinary time, United Way is also committed to leading the country's caring people and organizations through the recovery and rebuilding process, community by community. The devastating events of Sept. 11 will have a lasting effect on people and communities across the country, including right here in our community. Now more than ever, a gift to United Way will help heal lives, strengthen local families and help the children in our community succeed."

The campus campaign cabinet consists of a cross section of Cornell employees. They include: Patty Ard, executive staff assistant, Student and Academic Services; Carol Bader, greenhouse worker in horticulture; Philip Dankert, librarian, School of Industrial and Labor Relations; Michael Esposito, gifts and exchanges coordinator for Olin Library; Liz Forlenza, a finance specialist in the Administrative Service Center; Sara Gibbons, executive staff assistant to the vice president for planning and budget; John Gutenberger, director of Community Relations; Susan Lang, senior science writer, Cornell News Service; Andrea Longmire, a project coordinator in the Campus Life Management Office; Philip McPheron, director of graduate and professional student housing with Campus Life; Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources; Catherine Salino, a manager in the accounting department; Dennis Stein, employee outreach manager, Office of Human Resources; Laura Toy, director of college, unit and project development, Division of Alumni Affairs and Development; and Robin Yager, manager of the Administrative Service Center. Also serving on the campus campaign cabinet is Elizabeth Trapnell Rawlings, wife of President Hunter Rawlings.

United Way of Tompkins County is an organized effort to raise money to support more than 100 local programs through 29 member agencies and 10 community councils that are designed to meet critical needs in the local community, Strong said. Over the next several weeks, campus publications will provide information about how money is raised and put to use and how to make a donation, he said.

"Each year, thousands of our friends and neighbors are touched by one or more of the United Way's member agencies and community councils and, given the recent change in our world, this year's effort takes on even greater significance," Strong said. "Many of our local agencies find themselves stretched for resources more than ever. Perhaps at no point in recent history has the importance of 'community' been more apparent. Through this year's United Way campaign, we can help sustain relief efforts, offer helping hands to our neighbors and strengthen and unite our community."