2019 CAMPAIGN CELEBRATION

United Way of Marshall County celebrated the community’s generosity with over 160 attendees at its Annual Meeting and Campaign Celebration Luncheon held at the Progress Rail Leadership Auditorium on February 28th. The celebration recognized companies and organizations throughout Marshall County that conducted outstanding United Way workplace campaigns in 2018. This year’s campaign theme was “United We Win.” During the Campaign Chairman’s Report, Co-chairman Steven Knowles announced $761,530 had been raised for the 2018/2019 Campaign which exceeded the goal that was set at $760,000 for this campaign.

“This event is a celebration of the generosity of community members and businesses that have made a commitment to give, advocate or volunteer through United Way but most importantly, it is a celebration of the positive impact that this generosity will have on the lives of our friends, family members and neighbors in need,” commented United Way Executive Director Carrie Thomas. “We are grateful to everyone that made this year’s campaign possible.”

In addition to the Chairman’s Gold (per capita gift of $125 or more), Silver (per capita gift of $75 - $124) and Bronze (per capita gift of $50 - $74) Awards and the Unity (100% participation) Awards, there were several other awards of excellence presented at this year’s celebration:

Best Overall Campaign Award presented to Progress Rail for largest overall corporate campaign and top contributor for this year’s campaign. This is the seventh year in a row in which Progress Rail has received this honor. 

Wendell R. Glassco Spirit of Giving Award presented to Citizens Bank & Trust for exemplifying outstanding employee and corporate leadership giving in our community. This award was renamed this year to honor Marshall County business leader Wendell Glassco, a longtime loyal and devoted United Way supporter who passed away last June.

Live United Award presented to Rhonda Springfield of Albertville City Schools for exemplifying United Way’s core goals of Give, Advocate and Volunteers throughout the year. Mrs. Springfield also served as a co-chair in this year’s campaign.

The Star Award was presented to the City of Albertville for most improved workplace campaign. The City of Albertville increased their campaign by 58% over last year and had 100% participation this year.

Excellence Awards were presented to this year’s Loaned Executives. This group consists of individuals from different agencies and organizations in Marshall County, who volunteer their time to help conduct and implement workplace campaigns and other campaign tasks. During the campaign, these volunteers work tirelessly to help United Way reach its fundraising goal. This year’s participants included Steve Downs with Family Services of North Alabama, LT Hagood with Citizens Bank & Trust, Samantha May with Shepherd’s Cove Hospice, Juana Moreno with Peoples Independent Bank, Matt Vandiver with BancorpSouth, Johnna Williams with Kappler, and Raquel Zavaleta with United Way of Marshall County.

The top twenty contributors for the 2018/2019 campaign include:

  1. Progress Rail

  2. Publix

  3. Citizens Bank & Trust

  4. Mitchell Grocery

  5. Paragon

  6. Mueller Company

  7. Parker Hannafin

  8. Syncro Corporation

  9. Newman Technology Inc.

  10. Peoples Independent Bank

  11. Marshall Medical Centers

  12. Propac Images

  13. Albertville City Schools

  14. Kabco Builders

  15. Davis Lee Companies/AlaTrade

  16. Schools of Guntersville

  17. City of Albertville

  18. Federal Mogul

  19. UPS

  20. BancorpSouth

In addition, United Way’s 2018 Annual Report was unveiled – this report highlights what has been accomplished here in Marshall County through generous donor dollars.