Announcement from United Way:
ASHEVILLE – The City of Asheville has been named a Spirit of North Carolina Award winner for its commitment to supporting United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. The award was given at the United Way of North Carolina annual meeting in Pinehurst.
The Spirit of North Carolina Awards for Campaign Excellence is sponsored annually by United Way of North Carolina. The awards program provides statewide recognition for outstanding commitment and support to communities through local United Way involvement. The competitive awards are presented to honor companies and employees who demonstrate excellence in their United Way campaigns.
Award winners are judged on 10 Standards of Excellence, which include :
• leadership giving program,
• volunteer culture,
• employee participation,
• employee giving,
• raising awareness of community assets and needs,
• corporate and/or foundation support and non-traditional, in-kind gifts,
• CEO and senior leadership involvement,
• employee campaign coordinator or committee,
• donor incentives and recognition, and
• partnering with United Way to help improve the community, just to name a few.
The City of Asheville shares a natural partnership with United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, with both organizations working alongside many partners to make the community stronger.
In addition to financial giving, volunteerism is also important to the City of Asheville. Employees participate in Day of Caring, a community-wide day of volunteerism organized by Hands On Asheville-Buncombe, United Way’s volunteer center. In addition, 10 city employees serve as volunteers on the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County board and committees.
“Asheville Fire Chief Scott Burnette inspired us to great things and to great success,” said Richard Caro, resource development manager with United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. “Not only did he lead the Asheville Fire Department, he led the City of Asheville’s overall campaign and, in fact, was over the entire Public Services Division of the United Way campaign. All together, the City of Asheville raised more than $66,000 to support United Way’s work in Education, Income and Health and our community as a whole.”
-Highlights of the City of Asheville 2012 United Way campaign include:
• Eight city department directors gave individual Leadership Gifts of $1,000 or more. Eight
additional city employees were also Leadership Givers.
• A campaign kickoff/chili cook-off event hosted by City of Asheville Police Department and
City of Asheville Fire Department was open to both City of Asheville and Buncombe County
employees. Staff participated in teams to create 18 entries and raise more than $700.
• Seven city departments increased their total contributions to the United Way campaign.
• Department fundraisers raised more than $3,500 in additional funds for the campaign.
• For the city’s “Wear Your Team Colors’ fundraiser, Transportation Department Director Ken
Putnam, an NC State University alumni, agreed to wear a UNC shirt if 50 city employees participated.
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