Each year, the United Way sets a monetary goal to be raised to aid the local community. This year, that goal has been set at $1,675,000 for Story County. Iowa State is set to raise $320,000 of that goal, but some believe the students, faculty and staff can do better.

Thomas Hill, vice president of student affairs, and Jonathan Wickert, dean of the College of Engineering, have challenged the university to raise $350,000, $30,000 more than the initial goal. If this goal is met, the two have agreed to dye their hair cardinal and gold.

Hill is committed to getting students and faculty to contribute to the United Way efforts because he says it gives them “… a sense of being a part of a community and contributing to that community. We sometimes forget how fortunate we are, not everybody is in that position.

The students at Iowa State are responsible for raising $5,000 of the $320,000 goal. The rest has been split up amongst the departments and other areas of Iowa State.

“With a lot of charities, you may never see the direct impact of your contributions, but by giving to the United Way, you know you’re helping people in our area. So that is a really good feeling,” said Chris Harre, sophomore in civil engineering.

Harre lives in Friley Hall as a part of Dodds house. Each year, Friley has a competition called Penny Wars to help raise money for the United Way. Each house competes to raise the most money to donate. This year Friley raised $2,538, with Dodds house winning the competition for the second year in a row.

“It’s a healthy competition,” said Richard Pfarrer, Friley residence hall coordinator. “It’s good to see [students] giving back to their community.”

Pfarrer plans to continue the Penny Wars in the future with a goal of a $1 donation per resident.

Kristin Pates, campaign director for the United Way of Story County, believes the reason so many students and faculty at Iowa State are willing to donate is because all of the money stays in the local area. “That’s really important because people want to give to something that will help their neighbors,” she said.

So far, Iowa State has raised $197,225 of the set goal, and all of Story County has raised around $900,000 of the full goal.

“Every year’s a different year, but we’re feeling good about things so far. We’ve always had a really good relationship with Iowa State,” said Pates, who added that money from the university comes from multiple fundraisers within the residence halls, faculty and staff donations, the greek community’s pizza sales, as well as other donating opportunities on campus.

Iowa State has until the beginning of December to reach either the $320,000 goal or to go the extra mile and raise the $350,000 set by Hill and Wickert.

For students interested in donating or coming up with their own fundraiser for the United Way, Pates suggested that they talk with their CA or residence hall directors.