United Way of West Alabama (UWWA) announced it raised a record-setting total of $4,272,374 during its 75th Anniversary campaign.

UWWA's 75th Anniversary Campaign Chair Sandra Hall and Board of Directors Chair Shelley Jones joined a group of "Live United" Children during the halftime show for the men's basketball game at Coleman Coliseum Wednesday to announce the total.

UWWA's mission is to improve the lives of residents in counties in West Alabama by funding programs and services to benefit the community. In coordination with 26 partner agencies and local nonprofits, UWWA helps serve 1 in 4 people in West Alabama through various programs, treatments, and service initiatives.

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The $4,272,374 raised sets a record-high campaign total, previously set in 2019 ($4,255,252) during Tuscaloosa’s bicentennial. The total includes money from grants and generous gifts from corporations, local businesses, and individual donors.

This year's fundraising campaign exceeded the initial goal of $4,175,000, which was set earlier this year by UWWA's campaign chair and board of directors. After falling short of their 2020 campaign goal during the height of the pandemic, UWWA took the deficit and the current financial climate into consideration when choosing this year's campaign goal.

In 2020, UWWA was also fundraising for a COVID relief fund, which combined the with the annual campaign raising money for its 26 partner agencies, generated a record combined total of over $4,400,000 raised in West Alabama.

“We realize the extraordinary generosity of our community and knew we could not go backwards in our 75th Anniversary campaign. Following a year when we had to pull from reserves to make sure our partner agencies received the same grant allocation from us as they had the previous year was important, because our partner agencies lost more than $4,000,000 due to the pandemic," said Jackie Wuska, UWWA President & CEO. "We knew we were going to have to set an aggressive goal this year and were fortunate to have Sandra Hall Ray and a passionate board of directors and campaign cabinet who understand the importance of making that goal and were determined to work to ensure it was reached."

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