Tuesday, February 10, 2015

A Valentine thank you! We reached the "United for the Future" goal!

"Heart" acrylic painting by an
artist in Adult Day Activities

Dear Friend of Abilities United,

At this time of the year, we think of our love and appreciation for those individuals who are special to us. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I want to express our appreciation for your support of Abilities United and the people we serve.  You clearly embrace the idea of “sharing the love” as is evidenced from your
incredible generosity to Abilities United this past year.   Because of your support, we now have the critical financial resources needed to expand and improve our inclusive services for children, adults and families in our community.

I am proud and delighted to report that, because of your generosity, we exceeded our “United for the Future” goal of $2,000,000.  At the end of this two-year campaign you contributed a total of $2,161,179! You have enabled Abilities United to realize our vision for inclusive services for the community members we serve. “United for the Future” donations included 10 naming opportunity gifts totaling $ 823,000 to begin new initiatives. Your gifts to sustain and expand existing services exceeded $900,000.  The Authors Luncheon audience gave another $112,205 through the very lively and energetic auction. Finally, you closed our exceptional 2014 with end-of-year gifts of $284,342.

Our new and expanded services will include a sponsored art program for resident artists, increased job placement services for adults, additional therapy equipment for children, and more scholarships for low-income individuals and families. And to improve our capability to deliver those services, your generosity allows us to install an improved reporting system so that we work more productively and effectively. All these changes and improvements position us well for our future.

So today, we celebrate you for helping to create excellence in our services and we look forward to sustaining this excellence over the coming years.  Through your generosity, you have made an extraordinary difference in the lives of many individuals and families. 

Please accept our heartfelt thanks for the extraordinary difference you have made.

Charlie Weidanz
Executive Director