Last Friday, November 21st, the United Way of Lamar County (UWLC) held its Final Report Out Meeting at the PJC Ballroom to announce whether or not they had reached their $600,000 goal.
Before reporting on the Campaign, Downtown Food Pantry Executive Director and member of the Chili Cook Off Committee Allan Hubbard announced the winners of the Chili Cook-off. Third place went to Keep Paris Beautiful; second place was awarded to the Wesley Center at PJC and the first place trophy went to CASA for KIDS. The Chili Cook Off judges were City of Paris Mayor Mihir Pankaj, Lamar County Chamber of Commerce President Paul Allen and East Texas Broadcasting’s Eric Kaufman. The People’s Choice trophy went to the REACH Center.
UWLC Executive Director Jenny Wilson invited up campaign volunteers to “report” their final numbers, and Wilson reported on workplace campaigns who didn’t have representatives present. In the Commercial Division Farmer’s Bank raised $5,000; Peoples Bank $10,000; First Federal Community Bank $35,006; Liberty National Bank $27,274 and Lamar National Bank $25,353. In the School Division Paris ISD raised $23,624; NL ISD raised $11,368 and PJC raised $13,772. In the Government Division, Lamar County raised $7591 and the City of Paris $2000. In the Healthcare Division Paris Regional Health raised close to $50,000 and Paris Orthopedic raised $5924. In the Industry Division RK Hall pledged $30,000; HWH $44,102; Campbell Soup $41,000 and Kimberly Clark $72,685. Other large corporate donations included $10,000 from DELCO Trailers; $15,000 from Bahena Construction; $25,000 from Atmos Energy; $5000 from Cunningham Steel and $5000 from Edward Jones, Stephen Gerrald.
In addition, UWLC received many donations from individuals and small businesses. Wilson announced that UWLC surpassed their $600,000 goal with $630,780 in pledges.
Wilson stated, “We want to thank everyone who donated to our campaign and to all the volunteers who ran their workplace campaigns, these individuals are so committed and are the reason we reach our goal.”
The Annual Campaign will fund the 19 UWLC partner agencies in 2026. Partner agencies who receive funding from the United Way of Lamar County include: The Salvation Army, Downtown Food Pantry, The King’s Daughters, American Red Cross, Boys & Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, HomeStay, the REACH Center, Children’s Advocacy Center, CASA for KIDS, Lamar County Child Welfare Board, Tailored Rides, Lamar County Literacy Council, Imagination Library, Paris Community Theatre, C.E.R.T., RSVP, Keep Paris Beautiful and the Paris Wesley Center.
If you missed participating in this year’s Campaign, it is not too late. You can make a pledge or donation to the United Way of Lamar County any time of the year by going online at www.lamarcountyuw.org, by mail at PO Box 1, Paris TX 75461 or drop off at the UWLC office, located at 2340 Lamar Avenue (next door to Pickle Printing). All donations are tax deductible and stay here in Lamar County.
