United Way of Eastern La Salle County kicks off 2024 campaign in Ottawa

The United Way of Eastern La Salle County realizes the little bit of pomp and circumstance it presented Tuesday in kicking off its 2024 campaign at Washington Square in Ottawa in and of itself does not help the people it serves.

But that ceremony will hopefully draw enough attention to its good works to help them assist even more people in the coming year.

United Way Day, as Tuesday, Sept. 10, was declared by proclamations from the communities of Ottawa, Marseilles, Seneca, Naplate and Sheridan, was marked with a gathering of dignitaries, volunteers and supporters from 12 civic entities the nonprofit serves, with words of devotion, encouragement and hope for an even greater impact on the area shared with the crowd.

“We have so much to celebrate and so much to be grateful for, so why not celebrated that while we launch our 2024 campaign,” UWELC executive director Sally Honiotes said. “Most of our partner agencies had representatives here, our great board of directors, Ottawa Mayor Robb Hasty and many of our top donors are here also, we we celebrated them all as well.

“It’s difficult for not-for-profits to blow their own horn, but it’s amazing to me how many people don’t know what we do. That’s why we recognize this way our agency partners and the great people we work with, the people who working together, make a difference.”

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 7

Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson, the United Way of Eastern La Salle County 2024 campaign chairman, describes the agency's goals Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, at the United Way Day celebration at Washington Square in Ottawa. (Charlie Ellerbrock)

UWELC board chairman Jeff Hettrick served as emcee, introducing Honiotes, Hasty and this year’s campaign chairman, Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson.

Honiotes told those assembled for the revelry, coffee and doughnuts that in the past year, 11,310 persons – “from newborns to seniors” were directly affected by the UWELC and its partner agencies like the Community Food Basket of Ottawa, Labor of Love, A Servant’s Heart and Meals on Wheels, to name just a few.

This year, she added, the goal of the campaign is to affect 1,700 more lives than it did a year ago. To do that, the board estimates it will take about $25 per person.

To measure that success, the UWELC is bringing back the “thermometers,” a public display now not only measuring the financial progress being made in the financial drive but also the number of people affected.

“We’ve done a great job in the past, but we always need to help more people,” Honiotes said. “There are more people in our community who are in need and while we can’t quickly fix everything, our focus is on a 15% increase over the number of people we impacted last year. What we do is help people. We invest in the people in our communities and the more we can help, the better.”

She said it’s easy to measure the number of people helped by some of the UWELC’s more well-known works like Labor of Love and the Community Food Basket of Ottawa, but it’s more difficult to see the impact of others, such as Dolly Parton’s Imagine Library, which sends children a free new book each month, or the counseling it supports for troubled teens and children through the Youth Service Bureau.

“Though you don’t see some of them right away, they have long-lasting impact on people’s lives,” Honiotes said, “and we’re proud to be a part of that.”

For more information about the programs available through the UWELC, go to unitedwayelc.org or info@unitedwayelc.org, or call 815-434-4003.