United Way of Central Georgia sets its highest campaign goal ever at $5 million for 2015

United Way of Central Georgia has set its highest campaign goal ever -- $5 million -- for 2015.

The amount was announced Tuesday at United Way’s campaign kickoff luncheon at Mercer’s Hawkins Arena in Macon.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Eddie Norris, the campaign chairman, said to the crowd of about 400 people. “We need all of you to continue being heroes to those who can’t help themselves -- and to recruit others to join our hero team.”

The campaign theme this year is Be Heroic, Live United, and it incorporates superhero themes into its messages.

Last year’s campaign raised $4.5 million, which was an 8 percent increase over the previous year. However, United Way was short by about $300,000 of meeting all its agency requests, said Norris, who is serving a second year as campaign chairman. Then the Peyton Anderson Foundation awarded the group a $225,000 challenge grant to expand United Way’s Read2Succeed program from one elementary school to 10 in Bibb County. United Way funds must match the grant amount to receive it.

“So we decided that our goal would be to meet the full funding requests from our agencies and to match the challenge grant (so) we would set a campaign goal worthy of a superhero campaign,” he said.

United Way President and CEO George McCanless said Sandra Deal, the wife of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, was ideal as this year’s guest speaker. She is the daughter of educators and she taught school for more than 15 years.

“As you are changing lives in your community, those children are going to grow up and they are going to impact other parts of our state, other parts of our nation and perhaps our world,” Deal said.

As people see needs in their community, it tugs on their hearts “and it stays on your mind and it impacts your thoughts,” she said. “You are being called on to do something about it.”

One way to do something is by donating to United Way, she said.

“They can do five times more with the money you give,” Deal said. “Giving money is a great gift, and I hope you will meet your challenge. ... Give to United Way if you have money to share and ... give of yourself, of your time and your skills, because that’s how we change lives to make them better.”

United Way partners with 31 agencies in Middle Georgia, and it served more than 236,000 people last year.

“You can’t help but be overwhelmed by their superhero powers in delivering programs in our community,” Norris said. “I don’t want to think what it might look like without the services of the Boys & Girls Clubs, without the Salvation Army or the Crisis Line and Safe House, just to name a few.”

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223 or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 9:15 PM with the headline "United Way of Central Georgia sets its highest campaign goal ever at $5 million for 2015 ."