Mississippi College Launches 2013 United Way Drive

Dr. Lee Royce, President of Mississippi College, has been involved in United Way for over 20 years.

Mississippi College faculty and staff seek to raise $28,000 as the Christian university launches its United Way campaign this fall.

That’s the goal for the 2013 drive that runs from October 1 through early November. MC employees donated a record $27,397 to United Way last fall with a participation rate of 39 percent.

The new goal is to hike that giving rate to 45 percent.

President Lee Royce is encouraging faculty and staff to contribute at a time when there are many unmet needs in the community. Mississippi’s unemployment rate of just over 9 percent is among the highest in the nation.

“People, both young and old, struggle throughout Central Mississippi,” Royce said. “Again, this Fall, we have the opportunity to reach out to our neighbors through the United Way campaign.”

Royce has been active in United Way campaigns since 1993.

Mississippi College’s participation rate ranks as the highest among Jackson area colleges, but the MC leader believes the Baptist-affiliated university can do even better.

United Way supports more than 50 human service programs in Hinds, Rankin and Madison counties. Funds go to help such organizations as the Magnolia Speech School, the Shelter for Battered Women and Children and Goodwill Industries.

MC faculty and staff making donations are eligible to win restaurant gift cards of $25 each.

Shari Barnes, director of the Community Service Center at Mississippi College, oversees the United Way Drive at MC.

She’s delighted MC has been the United Way leader among metro Jackson colleges the past seven years.

Boosting the United Way campaign, the giving rate for faculty and staff at the MC School of Law in Jackson stood at 60 percent last fall, Barnes noted.

“We would all be delighted to see 100 percent MC participation from our 500-plus faculty and staff members,” Royce said in a letter to university employees. “I certainly hope you will help us step up our giving.”

For more information, contact Shari Barnes at 601.925.3267 or sbarnes@mc.edu.