001As we continue our good news this evening, we are shining a spotlight on the 10 schools that led the charge in our very successful 202425 fundraising campaign for the United Way of Gaston County and we have had them down the main hallway and I see them out there so they know it's it's time for them to come forward. Okay. Gaston County Schools has been a long uh long been a supporter and a cornerstone of the local fundraising efforts for the United Way, playing a vital role in supporting United Way programs across three areas: education, health and wellness, and financial stability. This year, Gaston County Schools reached an all-time high with a total contribution to our local United Way of $131,861.92. And that is a record amount for the school district. We extend our heartfelt thanks
002to everyone who contributed and participated in this year's campaign. It's truly inspiring to see our school community come together once again to support the important United Way programs that make a difference right here at home. So, leading the way for the 2024 25 fundraising campaign is Southwest Middle School. And Southwest is uh represented this evening by principal Melissa Nick and Judith UIA. Close. Close. Southwest had an impressive contribution of $10,248 and we would like for them to be recognized at this time. Miss Cherry, do them individually. We will do them individually. I'm going to give everybody their plaques and then I'll say my thing. Okay. So, God bless y'all and we're going to move on and then I'll do my big God bless. Okay. Pictures. We'll do individual pictures so we have them for each
003school. Thank you. Where you want to stay? Right over there. Yeah. Let's let's just make that over there maybe our waiting area and then we'll do a big group a group picture once we get everyone else with us. At this time, we'd like to recognize the remaining top 10 fundraising schools and the dedicated coordinators who help make the success uh possible. So, when I call your name, we'll have those schools come forward so that they can be recognized. Next, we have uh North Gaston High School represented by Principal Paige Willis and assistant principal Wiba Auda McCrae. And North Gaston is being recognized for coming in second place in fundraising with a contribution of $6,15. And God bless y'all, too. So, if you'll go stand up. Oh, pictures. I'm sorry. It's Monday and it's a holiday.
004I'll get the next one. In third place for fundraising, next we recognize Hullbrook Middle School, represented by principal Torbin Ross and campaign coordinators Tama Houston, Tara and Tara Nixon. And Hullbrook contributed $5,913. [Applause] Up next, we would like to recognize Kramerton Middle School. And representing Kramerton this evening is the assistant principal, Michael Hwitt. And Kramerton contributed $5,900 to the campaign. [Applause] Now, we would like to recognize Belmont Middle School, represented this evening by principal Dr. Josh Bramley and the campaign coordinator Samantha Wallace. And Belmont Middle School contributed $4,891. Continuing with our top 10 recognition for the United Way fundraising campaign. Next we have Woodill Elementary represented by principal Andrea Meyer. And Woodhill contributed $4,050 to the campaign. Now we have with us we would like to recognize Carr Elementary School represented this evening by principal
005Dr. Rebecca Duncan and Carr Elementary contributed $3,816 to the United Way campaign. And Dr. Duncan, if you will, if you will introduce who is also with you. Dr. Duncan, if you'll introduce who you have with you. This is Heather Wiggins, our receptionist and campaign coordinator. Thank you, Heather. I just didn't have Heather's name in my notes. And now we would like to recognize Mount Holly Middle School, represented this evening by principal Curtis Mitchum and Assistant Principal Dion Kennedy. And Mount Holly Middle School contributed $3,340.15 to the United Way campaign. [Applause] Now, we would like to recognize the Highland School of Technology, represented this evening by assistant principal Jenny Carper. And Highland contributed $3,32 to the United Way campaign. [Applause] And next we would like to recognize IDA Ranken Elementary School represented by principal Donna Kelly
006and the assistant principal Emily Morton. Ranken Elementary contributed $3,63.40 to the United Way campaign. [Applause] Nowbody, now we'll have a group picture. Then I can talk and I know Andre Stevens is going to join us. In the back in the front organiz all our plaques up front 10. Yeah, Miss Kennedy and Mr. Behind Doc. Behind Doc. That's fine. United Way is such an intricral part of Gaston County. They do so many amazing things and I can't imagine anybody that knows anything about United Way can't tell a story that it hasn't touched them or somebody that they know. So, we can't do without them. They can't do without us. and Gaston County has always been such wonderful partners in so many ways, but especially giving. So, I am just thrilled and excited and just overwhelmed about
007the wonderful amounts that we always manage to give even in hard times. And the last couple of years have not been easy, but we always managed to be either the top donors or in the top 10. So, on behalf of our wonderful family, thank y'all. Thank y'all. It's It's an amazing I think we want to have Andrea Stevens after we do a picture. That's right, Miss Cherry. And I want to point out while we're getting this picture, our top 10 fundraising schools that we've recognized tonight, they account for almost 40% of the money that was raised for United Way this year. And many of our schools used creative fundraising strategies. They engaged the students and staff to give. And their hard work truly paid off because we we easily exceeded our goal of $125,000. So,
008let's take that picture and I've got a a little more information to share with you and then we'll rec have another recognition. We'll get a we'll get this picture group picture here. And there you stay where you're at because there's two other people we want to add to this picture. And uh we would like to recognize Valerie Yakco who is our district-wide coordinator for her dedicated leadership again this year to coordinate the campaign for Gaston County Schools. And we're pleased to have with us Andrea Stevens. She is the president and executive director for the United Way of Gaston County. So let's have them come forward and to join in this picture. And Miss Stevens, if you want to share briefly about uh what this group has done to help the United Way, feel free to
009do so. Well, thank you, Todd. And I I want to echo Miss Cher's comments. Um, the United Ways has been a strong pillar in our community and we couldn't do the work that we do without the Gaston County Public Schools. So, the coordinators, teachers, um, all of the employees of the district, we want to say thank you. Thank you for giving back because we know that you see the needs every day. So, you help us help serve our community in a tremendous way from food on the table to utility bills to helping the child who's not reading on grade level read on grade level. So for that we thank you and we certainly appreciate and this year Gaston County Schools is the top contributor for our campaign. So we've recognized our top 10 fundraising schools
010but we do want to give a shout out to several central office level departments that achieved 100% participation in our fundraising campaign. They are the finance, human resources, technology, and communications departments. And notably, the academic services department made the largest contribution from the central office level totaling nearly $6,680. So, so I think everyone would echo these comments. To everyone who contributed, whether it was $20, $100, or even more, your generosity is deeply appreciated. Every dollar counts, and when our schools and departments unite for a common cause, the results speak for themselves. Raising nearly $132,000 is a remarkable achievement and we are incredibly proud of our community's collective effort to support the United Way here in Gaston County.