A little U goes a long Way! 2008 Victory Celebration...

Yesterday was United Way's big VICTORY CELEBRATION! For those of you who are not familiar with what United Way does, I'll give you a brief run-down. The United Way of Rutherford & Cannon Counties (the United Way I work for) supports health & human service programming throughout Rutherford and Cannon counties by raising funds in the community. Our goal for 2007/08 was $2.6 million, and I'm excited to say that we raised $2, 670, 053.58!!! We were very excited that we reached our goal and that we are going to be able to help thousands of people throughout our community!

I am the Director of Marketing and Special Events at United Way, so I am in charge of all marketing materials, any special event (we have 4 large special events), and keeping the public informed about United Way via major media (print, e-media/marketing, radio, television). This was my first special event to do all by myself, and I was pretty nervous! However, everything turned out BEAUTIFULLY! The decorations were a huge hit, everyone enjoyed lunch, and I think everyone enjoyed the "party" atmosphere. I wanted all of our guests to have a good time and feel like they were really at a CELEBRATION! I was a little nervous about attendance since yesterday was a snow day, and most children were out of school. But that didn't stop them - we had nearly 350 people present - a packed crowd! Here are a few pictures of everything before the people came in!

This is a picture of the welcoming table - there is the big arrangement my mom and I made! The theme for the event was "A little U goes a long Way!"

Here is a picture of all the tables inside the event venue, Park Place. Park Place is a renovated ribbon factory - it's really neat with the exposed brick walls! I chose colors that corresponded with the United Way logo - blue, green, red and yellow. I really like how bright and colorful everything was - especially with the tissue paper flowers as the centerpieces! A couple of schools and daycares took the flowers to decorate their classrooms with, so I'm glad that someone will put them to good use!

Another picture of the large banquet room.A close-up of one of the tables - we added some confetti to make it sparkle :)

A picture of the food table.A close-up of the head of the food table with the china, napkins and flatware. I picked napkins that matched the tablecloths and paper flowers - and yes, I stacked the napkins! Ha!
I have gotten several emails this morning from people who went to the event yesterday, and I appreciate all of the kind words! I am so blessed to work with such an amazing organization - everything I do helps those in our community who are not as fortunate as I am! If you are not familiar with the United Way in your community, I urge you to call and get more information - you won't be sorry!