Increase in state employee giving benefits United Way

Ethan Weston/News Tribune photo: State employees leave the Harry S. Truman State Office Building on Oct. 7, 2021 in Jefferson City, Mo.
Ethan Weston/News Tribune photo: State employees leave the Harry S. Truman State Office Building on Oct. 7, 2021 in Jefferson City, Mo.

Missouri employees donated more than $785,000 to charities this year.

The Missouri Office of Administration announced the results of its "Caring is Magical" Missouri State Employees Charitable Campaign on Wednesday. The $785,159 the campaign raised will benefit 561 charities across the state.

"Each year the charitable campaign is a great opportunity for our state team members to support causes of their choice," OA Commissioner Ken Zellers said in a news release. "By providing these generous contributions, they will be able to lift up so many throughout the state and within their communities in a time of need."

The Missouri State Employees Charitable Campaign is an annual fundraiser in which state employees and retirees can donate to a charity of their choosing through payroll deductions and one-time gifts.

State employees have donated more than $34.5 million since the campaign was organized 38 years ago. Donations have reached at least $1 million in 18 of the past 38 years. Last year, the campaign donated $597,706.

The $785,159 donated this year fell below that mark but still set records, according to the Office of Administration.

The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance and the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations donated their highest annual totals in the campaign's history with $44,423 and $36,071, respectively. Twenty-one of 28 state agencies exceeded their total giving from last year.

And statewide participation nearly doubled from 5.43 percent last year to 9.43 this year.

The Missouri Department of Corrections led the campaign with $122,646 donated.

Several Central Missouri charities are on the list of eligible organizations that can benefit from the campaign.

The United Way of Central Missouri and 23 of its partner agencies are on the list, as is Special Olympics Missouri and Callaway County United Way and 10 of its partner agencies.

Ann Bax, president of United Way of Central Missouri, said the agency received $133,539 from the state employee charitable campaign this year, an increase of more than $30,000 from last year.

"It's huge," Bax said. "It will help us to continue to administer the programs and, you know, the dollars that we raise go to our agency partners."

United Way of Central Missouri is treated as a federation in the campaign, which means it collects direct donations and donations made to its partner agencies, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City, The Salvation Army, and Rape and Abuse Crisis Service.

Bax said it was a "wonderful surprise" the state charitable campaign produced more than what United Way was projecting using last year's contribution.

"The state charitable campaign is typically in our top three campaigns so it is tremendously important to United Way and our community," Bax said. "And we're just really grateful for our state employees that understand the importance of giving back."

The state campaign allows employees to donate to a charity of their choosing, which Bax said is likely why so many choose United Way.

"It stays in their communities," she said. "They're helping their neighbors, their friends, people who need services and certainly people they'll never meet, but they know that they are helping to keep their community strong."