University faculty and staff have exceeded their giving goal of $420,000 in the annual State Employees Combined Campaign (SECC). Through Dec. 19, $420,418 had been pledged. This marks the eighth time in the last nine years that NC State has surpassed its giving goal.

Employees can still make donations to SECC, with monies counting toward next year's total. The contributions, however, will go toward helping charities now.

"This says that this university cares about the community," said Dr. David Haase, SECC chair and director of The Science House. "It shows that we care about people in Wake County and we care about people in the state. NC State was founded on service to people in the state and this shows it."

The amount of money donated to the campaign has risen considerably in recent years. Giving has increased 50 percent in the last five years, and more than doubled since 1992, when the university raised $189,605.

"In this tough economic climate, the credit for reaching our goal has to go to the unit and team leaders," Haase said. "They are really the ones who made this work."

This year's campaign booklet included the names of more than 1,000 charitable agencies. Employees who elected to designate their gifts chose one or any combination of these agencies, in amounts as small as $5 each. One of those charities is the NC State Family Scholarship, which is a need-based scholarship for dependants of NC State employees.

The SECC was started in 1984, replacing the United Way Campaign, which took place on campus for many years. The United Way is still included in the campaign, and employees can give either to the United Way itself or to any of its member charities.

Posted December 20, 2002

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