By Marianne Fortescue and Linda Hayden, co-chairs of the 2005 UNH United Way campaign

As usual, the recent holidays were rushed and hectic and seemed to fly by much too quickly. During this time, we hope that you had a chance to enjoy the company of good friends and family, gain some needed rest and relaxation time, and had your fair share of good food, good times, and laughter!

First, we would like to thank you all very much for your efforts in this year’s UNH United Way campaign. With your help, great questions, and support, the process went very smoothly. Thank you for your patience with us, your time, your creativity, and your help in spreading the information throughout campus.

Second, we wanted to give you the final figures for this year’s campaign. Although we were short of our projected goal, we were very close to our 2004 totals. Despite the drain on giving, due to the hurricanes and other natural disasters this fall, we were able to collect $41,080. On behalf of the United Way, thank you for all your efforts.

Thirdly, we wanted to remind you and your departments, offices, and/or buildings that it is never too late to give to the United Way. Our local charitable organizations are always in need of our help. If you or others simply ran out of time in December, contributions can still be made toward the UNH United Way campaign and you can still help those in the Seacoast area that desperately need help and services in the cold months ahead.

Finally, congratulations to the lucky winners of the incentive drawings:
Prize 1 75 Faculty/staff meal package -- Suzanne Sonneborn
Prize 2 Athletics ticket package and merchandise from Hayden Sports -- John Halstead
Prize 3 Campus Recreation package -- Diane Tebbetts
Prize 4 Brunch for four at the NEC -- Dorothy Robertson
Prize 5 Theatre and Dance tickets -- Kevin Charles

"I am delighted to win the 75 meal plan at UHS. In my role as nutrition educator through UNH Health Services, I view this gift as an opportunity to enhance my nutrition education efforts at UNH. I plan to utilize my meal plan to take students to lunch or dinner. This will enable me to educate nutrition peer educators and other students that I supervise about food choices in the dining halls. My plan for acheiving this goal is to offer dining hall tours to UNH students, in conjunction with UHS," Sonneborn said.

Once again, thank you for your help and energy! You are ALL winners to us!

Have a wonderful winter and spring semester at UNH. We look forward to working with you again in the 2006 campaign. If you have any suggestions for 2006, please feel free to contact us.