United Way Pledges Reach $762,000 Early in Fall Drive

United Way of Ventura County received $762,000 in pledges in the first 35 days of its 90-day campaign to raise $5.7 million, officials said.

“While we are at nearly the same point as last year in terms of money raised to date, we still have a long way to go to reach our $5.7-million goal,” said Sheryl Wiley Solomon, president of the United Way of Ventura County. “As always, at this stage in the fund-raising drive, most of our company campaigns are still in progress.”

She said the local United Way, which began its major fund-raising push Sept. 22, has seen outstanding local results from companies that ran early employee campaigns and added that she is optimistic the organization will see its results increase dramatically after the campaign push ends.

Mike Silacci, executive director of external affairs for Pacific Bell, is leading the fund-raising campaign. He attributed its success in the first month to the employee campaign teams.

The results of the intensive fund-raising will be announced Dec. 14, and Solomon acknowledged that reaching the goal will be a major challenge.

“Although we raised $5.5 million last year, our 2000-2001 goal is an aggressive stretch target because we anticipate a loss of $400,000 from our employee, corporate and individual campaigns this year,” Solomon said.

United Way of Ventura County has been raising funds for health and human services in the county for more than 50 years. It provides funding for 53 agencies that provide a variety of services for county residents.