NORWICH – As another year winds down in Chenango County, the clock for the Chenango United Way's annual funding campaign is quickly drawing to a close as well.

Given a slow start this year, the initiative to raise more that $420,000 in community-enriching funding has been an overall success.

As of Monday, the Chenango United Way has attained more than 95 percent – $399,184 – of its goal, which at one point in the campaign seemed beyond the scope of possibility.

“We had a real scare through November,” said CUW Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco. “We certainly were bracing ourselves and our community partners for a worst-case-scenario situation.”

While it was impossible to calculate the final outcome with 100 percent certainty, projected forecasts based upon past years' pledges and trends indicated the possibility of big trouble early on for the organization.