United Way of Hall County hosted its 2023 Campaign Kickoff event Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at the Gainesville Civic Center on Green Street.
According to Jessica Dudley, president of United Way of Hall County, the Campaign Kickoff is a free event that the organization hosts to celebrate the community members that support and give to United Way.
“We are excited, energized. Really, really grateful for all of the support. We had a full house today," Jessica Dudley, president of United Way of Hall County said. "And so it's very, very exciting to see everybody come out and really recognize the good work that's happening."
United Way presented its annual Give, Advocate, Volunteer and Chairman’s awards. This year’s winners are listed below:
- The Give award - RK Whitehead, owner of Whitehead Die Casting.
- The Advocate award - Dr. Merrianne Dyer, Field associate with the UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools.
- The Volunteer award - Reese Daniel
- The Chairman’s award - ABB
The Top 10 companies recognized are listed below:
- Publix Super Markets
- Northeast Georgia Health System
- Conditioned Air Systems
- Fieldale Farms
- Wilheit Packaging
- Hall County Schools
- Gainesville City Schools
- United Community Bank
- QuickTrip
- Truist Bank
Charlie Hawkins will take over from Meg Nivens and Lee Rogers as the 2023 campaign chair. He said he is honored and excited to continue the organization's mission and projects. In the 2022 campaign season, just over 2 million dollars was raised.
“That's actually the highest that we have seen in the past 15 years," Dudley said. "And so it definitely was exciting. And we know that the community will come together and rally around us again.”
