By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – The 2019 Wabash County United Fund campaign teed off on Wednesday, Sept. 11, with the annual Wabash Rotary Club golf outing at the Honeywell Golf Course.
Eighteen teams participated in the event, which included lunch, raffles, various contests, and a chance to meet with representatives from the 22 local agencies that will benefit from the campaign.
“The Wabash Rotary Golf Outing every year signals the beginning of our annual fundraising campaign,” UF Executive Director Steve Johnson told golfers before the event. “It’s always a good experience for us to welcome all of you as participants in that campaign. The money that was spent on your registration, and the raffle prizes, and the sponsorships from the various companies, goes to a very worthy cause. That’s what supports local organizations in Wabash County that support struggling families that are in need.
“Thank you very much for being a part of that.”
One new agency, Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry, has been added to the UF list of recipients, Johnson later told The Paper of Wabash County. That group replaces the Purdue Cooperative Extension’s literacy program. Officials from that organization asked not to be included this year, he noted.
This year’s campaign goal remains the same, $250,000.
The organization raised about 90 percent of that goal during the 2018 campaign.
Alex Winger is a member of the United Fund board of directors and was experiencing his first golf outing this year.
“This is all a learning experience for me,” he said. “I know we rely heavily upon the funds that we earn during this golf outing to give back to our agencies. It’s a very big event for the year.”
UF touches base with a variety of agencies around the county, he said, adding that it’s been nice to learn about the various programs.
The Blessings in a Backpack programs in Wabash and North Manchester are among the agencies benefitting from United Fund. It had a display on the tee for Hole No. 6.
“United Fund is important for both our organizations,” volunteer Steve Brubaker said of the Wabash and North Manchester programs. “All of our funds are raised locally; they’re all through donations. Those are the funds we use to purchase the items we sent each week for the kids.”
Blessings in a Backpack provides food for the weekend for underprivileged children in the Manchester Community, Wabash City and MSD school districts.
“Without the backing of the community and United Fund, we wouldn’t be able to operate,” he said.
The North Manchester program serves about 340 youngsters, while the Wabash program serves about 460 in the Wabash City and MSD districts.
“We expect those numbers will increase,” he said. “They’ve been going up each week as more people see the program and get involved.”
This is the ninth year for the program in North Manchester and the seventh year for Wabash.
Tiffani Hines manned the Hands of Hope/Family Service Society booth on Hole No. 2.
“I really don’t think they could function without the United Fund,” said Hines, a Hands of Hope committee member. “They need so much to just run. We have shelters and safe houses. Without the United Fund’s help, we wouldn’t be able to run them.
“There’s just so much that goes into it, there’s no way we could do it without them.”
The Wabash FAME Festival was located on hole No. 18. Director Judy Ward greeted the various golfers at the site.
“FAME is greatly supported by the United Fund,” she said. “It’s nice to have them appreciate and approve of the efforts that we are doing. United Fund and Chili for Charity mean a lot to us, as far as funding.”
The festival’s annual budget ranges from $13,000 to $16,000.
“Everything we do is grants or donations,” Ward continued. “So United Fund and Chili for Charity are used to get us started, and then we do fund raising with letters and selling of ads. However, we find it, we want to do it without the kids having to pay to come on in.”