CHENANGO COUNTY – The 2008 Chenango United Way Campaign has come to a close, and the organization is proud to say that they were able to raise more this year than last.

This year, the CUW raised $450,009 in Chenango County and combined with the $38,867 designated from other United Ways, a campaign total of $488,876 was reached. United Way Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco said she was happy with this year’s results. “To go from $429,560 raised locally last year to $450,009 this year is a big increase. I hope next year we can increase even further to the levels we had the year before the floods,” Monaco said.

While the CUW is happy with the money raised this year, the organization knows that difficult decisions are ahead. At the beginning of the campaign the CUW estimated that there would be at least $700,000 of requests for the year. When the requests were tallied, the organization actually received 32 requests for a total of $921,000 in funds, a big increase from 2007, when 31 agencies requested $668,000 from the organization.

“I think it’s great that we’re up from last year,” Campaign Co-Chair Bruce Beadle said of the total raised, “but I would still like to see more. The community needs are a lot more than they have been in the past.”