Employee charity raises more than $111,000 for United Way

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The Combined Charitable Appeal for University Employees has exceeded its campaign total for this year. Originally pegged at $110,000, CCAUE surpassed this mark for a grand total of $111,844.74.

The CCAUE has raised a sizeable sum for the United Way, which manages the program. “The CCAUE is one of our largest contributors. We have raised around 2.6 million, so the CCAUE is one of our largest campaigns,” said Sara Yasner, a community impact associate at United Way in Bangor.

This year’s CCAUE funding has come primarily from alumni and retired university staff and faculty. “Approximately 21 percent of the university employees have donated money,” according to Sharon Buchanan, co-chair of the CCAUE program.

CCAUE has a large scope, and its donors have many options when they decide to contribute money to the campaign.

“We encompass all United Ways statewide,” said Kay Saucier, an administrative assistant at the system’s office. “The University of Maine has outreach centers throughout the state, and has people who live in other counties who would prefer to donate their money to an organization where they live. This is why it has changed from United Way to CCAUE.”

Buchanan, who has held the post of co-chair for her second year, described the campaign of CCAUE as an annual occurrence. “It’s a yearly thing; the campaign kickoff is in mid-October and usually runs about six weeks,” Buchanan said.

For many, the importance of the CCAUE is that it touches close to home. The money that CCAUE raises goes directly to those who are in need of help or assistance.

“I had an uncle who had cancer in his later years, and the hospice program assisted my aunt and his family and made it so he could be at home close to his family. And that hospice comes from United Way and the money that we give to it,” Saucier said.

Many students at the University of Maine are unaware of the program, primarily because it is targeted mostly toward university employees, alumni and retirees.

“It’s more of a university thing, in the past we have asked for student participation but it’s kind of hard when students have bills to pay,” Buchanan said.

While students haven’t volunteered for the campaign, Buchanan said, “I think the student organizations also do a lot of giving, which is good, and I haven’t considered it, but it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 14th, 2006, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.