As of Nov. 14, the Cornell United Way campaign has raised $400,773, or 53.4 percent of its goal of $750,000, well beyond the level reached at a comparable time last year.

“With this momentum, we are extending our campaign, focusing in earnest for another month so that those who normally give in December are able to maintain their schedule of giving,” said campaign co-chair Andy Noel, the Meakem*Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education. “Also, the winter months can be especially difficult for those who are impacted by challenging circumstances and we want to do everything we can to generate support that makes a difference in their lives and could lessen the burdens they carry, often unknown to others.”

The most recent fundraising effort, the Nov. 11 women’s hockey game against top-ranked Wisconsin, raised $3,225, thanks to the William Henry Miller Inn, other community donors and individual supporters. Though Big Red came up short in a 2-1 loss at Lynah Rink, the audience enthusiastically rallied behind the home team, United Way fundraising efforts and recognition of military veterans.

After the first period, Kathy Zoner, chief of Cornell Police and Cornell United Way campaign co-chair, and James Brown, president of United Way of Tompkins County (UWTC), recognized the work of the United Way on campus and in the community. They called out two guests in honor of Veterans Day: Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kent Tryon and former Army medical specialist Karen Trask, meal plan coordinator for residential housing in Student and Campus Life. Working with UWTC, Cornell, and area schools and organizations, Trask and Tryon organized supply drives for victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

As the season of giving and thanksgiving begins, Zoner and Noel remind the campus community:

• Pledge cards are a click away. Though the campaign is being conducted primarily through online giving, pledge cards can be downloaded from the UWTC website.
• Online giving makes it easy for you to designate and keep track of your gifts over time. Opening an account to give online will create a record of your online giving over the years. Also, it is easy to designate your gift, directing it to agencies and counties you most want to support.
• Every gift makes a difference. Because the Corporate Cornerstone Partners cover UWTC administrative and operating costs, 100 percent of gifts benefit local United Way programs and agencies.
• Local communities are counting on Cornell. Nearly 40 percent of the overall support that families in Tompkins and surrounding counties receive through the UWTC comes directly from individuals in the Cornell community.
• Consider making a tribute gift in honor or memory of someone special. You can consider designating all or part of your pledge to the United Way as a gift to someone else.

Go to the Cornell United Way website for more information or to make a pledge online, or download a pledge card.