November 24, 2010

Dear Colleagues:

The United Way makes a real difference in our community.

After-school programming, health screenings, substance abuse intervention, end-of-life care—your United Way campaign contribution makes all of this and much more possible.

Thanks to your generosity, last year Team UM exceeded its $1.23 million goal—a remarkable achievement. This year’s goal is to raise $1.3 million by December 31. As of November 22, we’ve raised $878,401, or a little more than 65 percent of our goal. This is a great start, but with just a few weeks to go before our campaign ends, we need to step up the pace.

If you have already made your gift—thank you! To date, about 25 percent of you have. That represents only 2,757 of the more than 11,200 employees who are eligible to contribute.

Do the math—if everyone who hasn’t contributed so far pledged $5 per month through payroll deduction, we’d easily exceed our goal. I know not everyone can do this, but if everyone gives whatever they can, we can do this together.

That’s the power of “Living United.”

As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, I ask you to keep in mind those who are less fortunate in our community. Please make your pledge today—don’t wait. Help us show South Florida that the University of Miami can be counted on when we’re needed.