It’s that time of the year again – school is back in session, cooler temperatures are upon us, football season has begun and the Junction City/Geary County United Way fundraising campaign is preparing for it’s big kickoff.

Each year the local United Way raises money for various agencies and organizations including Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Food Pantry of Geary County, Girl Scouts, Salvation Army and the American Red Cross of Geary County – to name a few.

Nichole Mader, United Way Executive Director said that this year they have a goal of raising $135,000, which is lower than last year.

“It is down, we have in the past reached for $175,000, however, the Board has agreed to lower it just to maybe give us a little bit more fire…when you set a goal and you’re unable to reach that goal, it kind of kicks you a little, and so we’re hoping to get some more fire under our seats by setting a reachable goal,” said Mader.

To help with meeting that sizeable goal, the United Way has a unique raffle at the September 9th Blue Jay home football game.

“We will be setup, we will have a booth set up at each gate where individuals can come in and buy raffle tickets for a chance to win 1 of 2 framed jerseys from the Junction City High School blue jay championship game,” said Mader.

The jerseys will also come with an article celebrating the State Championship team of 2008 – the school’s first 6A title, and only the second in school history – the previous title was 1969.

Tickets are $1 each or $5 for six; you must be present at the time the tickets are called in order to win.

Raffle numbers will be called during halftime and at the end of the third quarter of Friday night’s home game.

Another big part of reaching this year’s goal are the large contributions from ‘Pacesetters’ – or, donors that have given at least $1000 to the United Way of Junction City/Geary County.

The Pacesetters include:

• Platinum:  $15,000+
  • Central National Bank
• Gold:  $10,000+
  • USD 475
  • Dillons Store #44
  • Ben Kitchens Painting
• Silver:  $5,000+
  • City of Junction City
  • Geary Community Hospital
  • Montgomery Communications
  • Union Pacific Foundation
  • Weary Family Foundation
• Bronze:  $1000+
  • Exchange Bank
  • Ft. Riley Tithes Fund
  • Geary County
  • Holiday Inn Express
  • Hoover Law Firm
  • Intrust Bank
  • Jellison Benevolence Society, INC
  • Jim Clark Auto Center
  • Junction City Rotary Club
  • Kansas Gas Service
  • KS State Bank
  • Meritrust Bank
  • R&R Developers
  • Sunflower Bank
  • USAA Financial Services
  • Veolia
  • Wal-Mart
  • Weary Davis LC
  • Westar Energy

Come out and support the Blue Jays this Friday, September 9th and help raise money for your local United Way.

The fundraising campaign for 2017 runs from September 9th, 2016 until December 31st, 2016.