Amazing Raise Ohio Valley Nets Over $400,000 in Donations
Trending
WHEELING -- Uninhibited by the website problems that plagued the event last year, the fourth-annual Amazing Raise Ohio Valley charitable fundraising drive brought in more than $400,000 to area nonprofits during 24 hours of giving Tuesday.
During the day, 2,457 individual gifts of $10 or more were made to the 111 participating groups, representing a total of $415,630 in contributions through the drive, which was coordinated by the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley.
For Community Foundation Executive Director Susie Nelson, it was a tiring but satisfying day.
"Just ecstatic. I think it's amazing. … We're amazed every year at the generosity of the people of the Ohio Valley," she said.
Webark Estates Inc. led the pack, capturing $54,630 in donations. Others in the top five were the Smith-Goshen Rice Enrichment Fund at $41,825; the St. Clairsville Public Library Foundation at $33,320; the Linsly School at $28,290; and the Augusta Levy Learning Center at $21,645.
The same five groups also comprised the top five for The Amazing Raise Ohio Valley last year.
Receiving the most individual gifts were St. Michael Parish School at 173; the St. Clairsville Public Library Foundation, 150; The Linsly School, 135; Woodsdale Elementary PTO, 116; and Wheeling Central Catholic High School at 110.
Nelson expressed relief that this year's event went off without any technical glitches like those that occurred last year, when the services of a national website provider crashed. The 2016 Amazing Raise took in more than $356,000.
"We've been picking up steam as we go along," Nelson said at mid-afternoon.
The Smith-Goshen Rice Enrichment Fund typically is among the groups receiving the most donations.
The foundation was formed in 2013 by a group of property owners in Smith and Goshen townships in Belmont County who first banded together to achieve collective oil and gas lease agreements with Rice Energy. Members then decided to establish a fund to assist nonprofit interests in Belmont County long after the oil and gas boom is over, according to advisory committee member Gabe Hays.
In its first three years, the fund raised $250,000. Volunteer fire departments, soup kitchens and school districts are among the entities already receiving grants from the Smith-Goshen Rice Enrichment Fund.
"Belmont County has never had such a fund that supports the whole county," Hays said. "We have had other booms, but they (were) nothing like this."
The group hopes to raise $10 million over the next decade. This would allow for $500,000 in interest to be granted each year, according to Hays.
While many made contributions during the Amazing Raise online, Margaret Brennan of Wheeling brought her check in person Tuesday to the Community Foundation offices on Market Street.
"The whole idea of the Amazing Raise is a focal point for all the needs of the Ohio Valley," she said. "No matter how big or how small, all the groups involved enrich the life of our valley."
City Editor Ian Hicks contributed to this story.