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United Way of Marquette County kicks off campaign

United Way of Marquette County campaign co-chairs Andrew Lacombe, left, and Shawn Beckman-Owsley. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — The United Way of Marquette County is in its 76th year and today kicks off the 2019 fundraising campaign, which has a goal of $400,000.

But officials hope to surpass that amount, said Andrew Rickauer, executive director of the local United Way.

Why donate to the United Way one may ask? Chances are a neighbor, loved one or even yourself has been impacted by the United Way in one way or another. Just last year 16,000 members of the Marquette County community were affected by the United Way, organizers said.

“The main goal and purpose of the United Way is to bring the people, businesses and organizations together to help serve the community,” said Rickauer.

There are 24 partner agencies that are part of the United Way of Marquette County this year, and they are broken down into four groups. These groups are: Basic Needs — providing necessities such as food, emergency shelter and clothing; Elderly Citizens and Adults with Disabilities — promoting independence, providing meals and expanding learning/social opportunities; Medical Assistance/Health Care Programs — keeping physical and mental health within reach; and Youth Programs — developing youth into healthy, responsible citizens.

“It’s really a community United Way,” said Rickauer.

The money raised never leaves the county. Any nonprofit organization that would like to partner with the United Way can apply and go through a vetting process. There is a committee that is made up of Marquette County residents that interview the partner agencies and decide which ones get funded and how much.

“You don’t want other people making decisions for you,” Rickauer said. “The cool thing is the community members, anyone can do it whether you gave money to United Way or not, you can come and decide where the money goes and how it gets used. A lot of these programs, if not all of them — if it wasn’t for United Way, those programs would not exist.”

This year’s co-chairs for the United Way campaign are Shawn Beckman-Owsley, who returns for her second year, and Andrew Lacombe, his first year.

Beckman-Owsley is a lifelong resident of the Upper Peninsula and is the assistant market manager at River Valley Bank in Marquette.

“I wanted to get involved with the United Way after learning how many agencies in our community benefit from United Way funding,” she said in an email. “I started by volunteering for the Community Action Panels, where volunteers hear presentations from all partner agencies and decide how to distribute funding. From there I joined the PR/marketing committee and now a board member/co-chair. What I love about being a co-chair is being able to get out into our community and share with others the great work of the United Way and our partner agencies.”

For more information, visit http://www.uwmqt.org/ .

Amy Grigas can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 243.

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