By Staff
April 4th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
It was the third Celebration event for the Halton Hamilton United Way since its reorganization.
It was a full house with congratulations handed out to hundreds of people. Photo by Alecia Korkowski
They announced that they has raised more during the 2018 drive than the new organization had ever raised before: $10,875,000.
The hall at the Burlington Convention Centre was full, and at times really, really noisy with everyone chit chatting at once. Chris Mei, the man from the Weather Network, who served as Master of Ceremonies, showed how to get the noise level down in some very imaginative ways.
200,000 people were helped through the 80 community agencies that the United Way supports and that one in every four people get some form of help from the United Way every year.
The evening was the occasion to recognize the corporate donors and the individuals and organizations that make the United work the way it does.
There was one slightly jarring event – one of those Oh Dear situations. At different points in the evening, people were asked to stand and be recognized: volunteers were asked to rise from their seats; people who had taken on leadership roles were also asked to rise – much applause.
The MC had mentioned earlier that one in every four people had either been helped by the United Way or were close to someone who had been helped.
When the MC asked those in the audience who had been helped by the United Way in the past to rise; a couple of seconds of silence and then one or two people rose, they looked around and then others began to rise but it wasn’t anywhere near that one in four number.
There were politicians on hand from Milton, Oakville and Halton Hills – not a soul from Burlington.
