Joining together for our community: Wake Forest’s United Way campaign

Dear Wake Forest colleagues,

We write to invite you to join us in a very important endeavor for our local community. 

On Monday, October 19, Wake Forest begins its annual campaign for United Way of Forsyth County, and we are pleased to serve as this year’s honorary campaign co-chairs.

Winston-Salem has so warmly welcomed us, and in the time we have been here, we have come to know and feel how deeply Wake Forest’s story is woven into the life of this city. We have long believed in and supported organizations like the United Way because of their ability to direct resources to the parts of the community where the need is greatest. And our decision to support the United Way comes down to a practical reality: the challenges a community faces are connected, and no single organization can meet them alone.

That is the work United Way does here, investing in 55 programs through 32 local partner nonprofits, focuses on economic mobility, basic needs, and the success of children and students. When a neighbor calls 211 for help, when a child gets the support to keep up in school, or when a family that is working hard but not getting by finds a path to stability, United Way and its partners are often part of the story.

This year, we have set two goals together: raising $100,000 and reaching 300 individual donors, nearly double the 158 colleagues who gave last year. We care most about the second goal: a gift of any size truly counts, and payroll deduction makes it easy to spread your pledge across the year. 

If you give in the campaign’s first 72 hours – Monday, Oct. 19, through Wednesday, Oct. 21 – you will be entered to win a free night at Graylyn. And as we reach our goals, donors will be entered for a variety of other prizes, including lunch with the two of us, an evening in the President’s Box at an upcoming Face to Face Speaker Forum for you and up to six guests, four tickets to a men’s basketball game against an ACC rival, and a week of priority campus parking.

Each week of the campaign, a colleague will share why United Way matters to them. We hope you will read their stories, and we hope you will join us. You can learn more at unitedway.wfu.edu or give here. 

We look forward to doing this together.

Go Deacs and Go United Way! 

Peter and Kathleen Rodriguez