Employees at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder contributed $125,941 to the 2000 Colorado Combined Campaign, exceeding last year's total by almost $24,000.
Since the drive for charitable agencies began in 1988, CU-Boulder has contributed about $1.5 million, making it the state's biggest contributor. The campus also has made the largest contribution in 10 of the 13 years since CCC's inception.
A total of 546 CU-Boulder faculty and staff members contributed to this year's campaign with an average donation of $231. Seventeen employees contributed $1,000 or more and 46 gave at least $500.
"I am very proud of our campus' historically high level of giving to these worthy agencies," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard Byyny. "It shows a concern for community well-being that extends well beyond Boulder and reaches into every corner of the state."
Byyny and his wife, Jo, served as co-honorary chairpersons for the Boulder campus in the 2000 CCC campaign.
Jane Gray Smith, CCC's lead coordinator for the Boulder campus, received an award at a CCC recognition ceremony Jan. 10 for turning in the largest increase over the previous year among the participating 47 Colorado state agencies. Contributing to CU-Boulder's success were 100 volunteers from departments throughout the campus who helped by distributing information packets and soliciting CCC donations.
"One reason for the campaign's success is that employees can arrange for payroll deductions throughout the year, instead of making a lump sum contribution," said Smith, administrative projects coordinator for the University Communications department. Employees also can personally select which of the 650 Colorado charitable agencies they want to receive their contributions.
The "Give From Your Heart" campaign created by Smith emphasized the benefits that charitable agencies might one day provide to the donor through programs dealing with concerns such as cancer, Alzheimer's and heart disease.
"Reaching the donation goal isn't the important thing," Smith said. "The giving is. Sometime, down the road, you or a loved one is going to need help or assistance from one of these agencies. And due to our support they will be there for you."
Of the two other CU campuses participating in the CCC campaign, the Health Sciences Center contributed $109,015 and CU-Denver gave $41,786.
For the year 2000, the Colorado Combined Campaign collected more than $1.3 million in contributions, exceeding the statewide goal.