United Way campaign surpasses halfway mark
To help
Those who have not had the opportunity to participate in a United Way workplace campaign may make a donation at United Way, 205 N. Main St., Suite 101, Janesville, WI 53545 or online at www.uwnrc.org.
For more information, call (608) 757-3040.
Photo
Bessie the cow, situated just off highway 26 and I-90 in the parking lot formerly occupied by Del Taco, now sports the "Live United" slogan of the United Way of North Rock County.
JANESVILLE — The United Way of North Rock County is more than half way to its fundraising goal of $1.35 million.
To date, 51.9 percent—or $700,958—has been raised.
Compared to last year, the campaign is "pretty much right on target," said Tammy DeGarmo, resource development director.
About 150 employee campaigns have not reported results yet, said Gail Graham, president.
"Times are tough right now. But the good thing is everybody really is stepping up," Graham said.
"It's not the size of gift that matters. If we can get more people to participate and give what they can, we'll get there. We're pretty confident we're going to get close to goal, and then we're going to appeal to the community to help make up whatever that difference is so we can get to that $1.35 million that we need to help support the programs in the community," Graham said.
Even Bessie the Cow, Janesville's fiberglass landmark at Morse Street and Milton Avenue, has been enlisted to help.
A "Live United" decal was applied to the side of the cow facing Interstate 90/39. The project was made possible through corporate contributions from Budget Truck and Auto, Alliant Energy and Coldwell Banker Commercial.
The decal will be removed when the United Way campaign is finished, DeGarmo said.
Dec 7, 2009 at 8:25 a.m.
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If the strong-arming tactics mentioned here are true, that is ABSOLUTELY *PATHETIC*..
Dec 7, 2009 at 8:23 a.m.
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stopwhining- There are LOTS of organizations that are an "asset to the community", not just one!.......I still want to know what some of the office people get paid.
Dec 7, 2009 at 8:18 a.m.
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The united way is a tremendous asset to our community. It's easy, so easy to hide behind a screenname and be critical/destructive. Exactly what do some of you sad, little people do to make our community a better place?
Dec 7, 2009 at 7:56 a.m.
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Someone once asked what united way executives/employees get paid...I don't think I ever saw an answer.....It would be interesting to compare this to what salvation army people get paid...
Dec 7, 2009 at 12:23 a.m.
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A tipped Bessie would be funny IMO.
Dec 6, 2009 at 11:14 p.m.
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27 And awake up run low hide well Im pulling for ya and everyone else to.Ill get some goo gone and see what we can do.No eggs in janesville "YET" for now the cow.
Dec 6, 2009 at 11:03 p.m.
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I think a Dairy Queen would be perfect for the building... and very appropriate to be associated with a fine cow.
Dec 6, 2009 at 8:42 p.m.
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I don't think the use of a beloved Janesville icon was the best way the United Way could advertise their fundraising campaign. I don't care for the United Way using my employer in an attempt to force a donation from me and my coworkers. I donate to charities regularly throughout the year (ECHO, St. Judes, Cancer research) and do not appreciate the high pressure tactics used by the United Way.
Dec 6, 2009 at 7:10 p.m.
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Most people don't have a problem with donating to charity, but when it gets shoved down your throat everytime you turn around either at the work place,retail stores, resturaunts etc... it gets old. I donate when I can, give my time to ring bells and such, but I don't need a decal on a Janesville landmark to push me to do more.
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There is a time and place for everything, and putting Bessie as a billboard is just plain dumb and I am affraid will backfire. Don't you remember the flap about when she was dressed up? The majority of Janesville spoke...leave her be. Granted she is owned by a private company, but if they had any sense at all they would have realized this was not a good idea.
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I hope the unitedway reaches it's goal, but adverising on Janesville's Bessie was the wrong way to go about solicitng for donations.
Dec 6, 2009 at 4 p.m.
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WOW!who would think all of this over a little sticker.DiGriz do ya realy want to come home to all this,charitie haters,besse tippers this has gone mad.
Dec 6, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.
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If it were an egg instead of a cow, what would the comments be like?
Dec 6, 2009 at 12:02 p.m.
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I agree the cow is not part of an advertisement.
Also..who is saying we have a chic-fila? We dont.
Dec 6, 2009 at 11:24 a.m.
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Maybe "Chick-fil-a" would like to advertise on Bessie. I can see it now...."eat more chicken" plastered on the side of our cow.
Dec 6, 2009 at 11 a.m.
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THE COW IS OWNED BY THE PROPERTY OWNERS. Thomas Lasse, BLM. Call them if you have any objections to the treatment of the cow or which charities they permit to use it. I'm sure they need a good laugh in this economy.
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LIVE UNITED is the national advertising slogan for the United Way. It was not made up for the cow. Stick your heads outside the window once in a while, Janesville.
http://www.liveunited.org/
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Again, BLM owns the cow. I think it's clever of them to use it this way and all the groups United Way funds go to should hope that it increases visibility.
http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/jun/27/...
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Did I say that BLM owns the cow?
Dec 6, 2009 at 10:40 a.m.
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"Live United" painted on a cow? That's a bunch of bull!
Anyone remember the chuckles that the old "Fly United" ad campaign generated? Aside from looking just plain silly on the cow(and also making no sense without an explanation), this phrase sounds more like a comic ad slogan for American Breeder Services than anything else.
Next we'll have the homeless walking around town wearing sandwich board advertisements they, wait a minute...hmmm)! Put these ads where they belong--plastered over every vertical surface of city buses and slathered obnoxiously on every wall at the Janesville Athletic Club!
Dec 6, 2009 at 10:05 a.m.
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melstew- Anyone thats ate at a Deltaco would be surprised they last anywhere as long as they do (lol..
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Absolute WORST food place I've ever been to and that saying a LOT (lol..
Dec 6, 2009 at 10:02 a.m.
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Well, ok, maybe I didn't "KNOW" it, but the "hate" comment in there was just too funny.
Dec 6, 2009 at 9:38 a.m.
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"United Way campaign surpasses halfway mark" I just KNEW that if I read the comments for this article I could get the lowdown on: 1) A taco chain store that went down the tubes, 2) Body shop rivalries, and finally 3) A billboard in the shape of a cow. Life is good.
Dec 6, 2009 at 9:34 a.m.
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Perhaps the dollars spent by Budget, Alliant, and Coldwell Banker to plaster this obnoxious banner on Bessie would've been better utilized as a direct donation to the programs funded by the United Way. Just a thought....
Dec 6, 2009 at 8:42 a.m.
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I KNEW it .....there were objections and now people "hate" charities ....I wondered how long it would take for the "H"-word to show up .......tooo funny..
Dec 6, 2009 at 7:23 a.m.
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I passed this the other day, I didn't get the chance to read it but thought to myself; "Geez, now someone's using it like a billboard". I am relieved it's a decal to be taken off, but still, a bad choice in my opinion. It isn't signage, it's a landmark, or supposedly a landmark.
Dec 6, 2009 at 12:34 a.m.
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Dear, God, the cow worshipers are back.
Dec 6, 2009 at 12:23 a.m.
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wow!deltaco closed down already?
Dec 5, 2009 at 11:46 p.m.
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The people who spent all that time and money to give Bessie her make over probably didnt expect her to become anyone's billboard, look what happened to that taco place that tried to rope her into advertising!
I don't think Harvard lets anyone use their cow as advertising either...
not saying the United Way is a bad thing,( and yes, I made my donation this year again) but what next? all the other charities wanting equal time?
Dec 5, 2009 at 10:46 p.m.
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I guess the recession has people hating charities, too. Sorry you're all sourpusses. I'll leave you to your sorrows.
Dec 5, 2009 at 10:46 p.m.
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Bessie is NOT a billboard!! Come on... the United Way can afford to pay for advertising another way. Put the banner on DeGarmo! The United Way is a farce anyway.
Dec 5, 2009 at 9:45 p.m.
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Maybe the banner would look better strapped onto the body of janesvillean?
Besides, cows are sacred, humans are not.
Dec 5, 2009 at 9:01 p.m.
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The Cow is not United Way property. That logo doesn't belong there.
Dec 5, 2009 at 8:38 p.m.
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That's one heck of a nice looking cow standing next to the empty taco joint.
Dec 5, 2009 at 6:50 p.m.
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1. The cow is not real. It doesn't mind if it's a billboard.
2. The cow is private property. They can do whatever they want with a cow that they own.
3. The cow is an advertising prop. The whole reason it is there in the first place was to sell cheese.
Dec 5, 2009 at 6:22 p.m.
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United Way or not, a cow should not be a billboard!!!
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