Cornell's United Way campaign goal is $600,000

The annual Cornell United Way campaign prepares to kick off on campus in the coming weeks with a new goal -- $600,000 -- a new chair -- Charles Walcott, dean of the university faculty -- and a new commitment: to not only meet the campaign goal, but to increase staff and faculty participation.

"Once people better understand that the needs of our community are more intense than ever at a time when public funding has fallen for three years in a row, we think that more members of the Cornell community will join forces with us and participate in the United Way campaign," said Walcott. "We need to rally for the good of our community, reach out to our colleagues and ask them to donate with us because this is something that really matters. After all, we're the fortunate ones, and the human services agencies in our county need us more than ever."

The overall Tompkins County United Way campaign goal will be announced this year during the annual Day of Caring, Sept. 14. Campaign contributions go to support almost 100 local programs through 26 United Way member agencies and 10 community councils, Walcott said.

"Last year about 16 percent of the faculty and staff participated in the campaign, even if it was only a dollar a paycheck," said Walcott. "Our goal this year is not only to meet our increased dollar amount, up from last year's goal of $585,000, but also to get 25 percent of Cornell staff and faculty participating in the drive."

The campaign motto this year is "What matters: Improving community life. Real people. Real need. Real impact." The campaign officially will kick off Sept. 14 with a "Souper" Day of Caring, when the community is asked to "fill the pavilion" at Stewart Park with cans of soup, other canned and boxed food, and personal care and household items. Details, including the various drop-off sites on campus, will be published in next week's paper.