UNITED WAY IS HALFWAY TO ITS GOAL

The Area Wide United Way campaign has passed the half-way mark toward its goal of raising $470,000.

As of Friday afternoon, $253,000 had been raised, said Dorothy Klein, executive director of the United Way.

"We are kind of in the lull of the campaign," Klein said. "The businesses and contributors who wanted to be among the first have already given."

She said a number of businesses are in the process of conducting in-house campaigns for United Way.

"We know right now a lot of them are in the process of being conducted," Klein said. "We expect these to wrap up in the next couple of weeks."

Klein said the pace of giving is about what it was last year.

"But we're really hopeful this year of reaching our goal," she said. An increase in some of the campaign divisions is a good sign, she said.

Money raised by United Way is used to help fund 25 community agencies.

For more information, call 334-9634.