MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — The numbers are still being tallied, but it looks as though this year’s Unity Campaign was a success.

Penny Porter from the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle said the 37 member agencies plus United Way raised $327,000 during the 2023 Unity Campaign.

“I won’t actually have the official totals until after the end of the month because we take the next couple of weeks to just check, recheck and make sure we’re calculating according to the formulas for the matches,” Porter said.

“I can give you the unofficial total that our agencies raised, that was 37 agencies plus United Way.  We raised over $327,000.”

She said that’s before the $100,000 incentive matching grant has been applied, bringing the actual total to $427,000. For the 2023 Unity Campaign.

Porter talked about how the member agencies network with each other to meet more needs as well as how they got acquainted with each other during radio appearances on  

“The individuals they’re helping to serve as an individual agency they’re not able to meet all their needs,” Porter said.  “So they need those partnerships to be able to help the family that needs food, but that also needs some other things that they don’t provide; they have to reach out to those partners.  This helps them to network and get to know what everybody else is doing.”

The UNITY Campaign was made possible by the community, according to Porter.

“We really want to thank our community for their generosity,” Porter said.  “Because to be able raise $327.000, really $427,000 in a short period of time like that speaks volumes to our community’s kindness and generosity.”

You can hear the full interview with Penny Porter on our Panhandle Live Facebook and Spotify.

More information on the Unity Campaign and the member agencies that participated can be found at uwayep.org

WVRC Media and Panhandle Live are proud to partner with the UNITY Campaign each year.