Brock United Way goal reached

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 | by The Brock News

Greg Finn and Kevin Lawr

It wasn’t a wide berth, but it was enough for Kevin Lawr – the Brock community raised $112,710.46 for United Way this year.

That was about $700 more than the goal, said Lawr, co-chair of Brock’s campaign benefiting the United Way of St. Catharines and Thorold.

“I’d like to thank the Brock community for pulling together and achieving the goal,” Lawr said. “I’m thankful the giving spirit came through in the end.”

The official campaign ran for six weeks, starting Oct. 18 and ending Nov. 26. But donations continued until the end of the year. The first event of the campaign was the annual Souper Star Lunch on Oct. 20, when the goal of $112,000 was announced. Other events included a Halloween office decorating competition and a volleyball tournament.

The goal increases a little every year, Lawr said. He wasn’t sure the target would be met this year because of the economic climate and competing fundraisers.

“But we snuck it out at the end,” he said. “That’s what we always hope to do.”

Lawr is pleased that Brock met the goal, although “the need (in the community) is still much greater than we can ever possibly meet.”

Campaigning happens year round at Brock. New volunteers are needed, said Lawr, who has been a campaign volunteer for eight years.

“We need committee members,” he said. “We need volunteers for events and planning. We need volunteers to do departmental presentations. We just need people.”

The committee especially needs faculty members to volunteer, he said.

Interested parties can contact Lawr at klawr@brocku.ca or co-chair Lynne Prout at lprout@brocku.ca. This year’s faculty campaign co-chair was Greg Finn, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Academic.