United Way celebrates community involvement at annual meeting

“We Help.”

Two words have never more properly summed up what an organization like United Way Wayne and Holmes Counties does for communities throughout the two counties, and on April 17 at Certified Angus Beef in Wooster, United Way joined its many partners to celebrate a year of giving back and helping others during its annual banquet and meeting.

John Stika, president of Certified Angus Beef, said his staff was honored to host the event because so many important facets of organizations that help others are represented.

Stika said his wife asked him why they choose to host this event when they really don’t do a lot of this type of thing, and his reply was: “The work that this group represents is extremely important to our community. We live in a community of resources, and we live in a community of dramatic need at the same time. When you see a need and see resources mobilized to address those needs, it makes you feel good about the people with whom you share a community.”

In addition, with the event taking place over lunch, it allows Stika’s staff to showcase their culinary skills, and those skills were on full display through a menu prepared by the staff.

Following the meal, the annual business meeting took place, and as usual, the highlight was having United Way hand out its annual awards to businesses that have been the most instrumental in supporting the organization.

After praising the staff and leadership at Certified Angus Beef, United Way Board President Bonnie Ferguson Hall said she, like many others, recognizes the value of the many nonprofit organizations in the two counties and said becoming a board member for United Way was an easy decision.

“I know how critical all of the agencies that support United Way are,” Ferguson Hall said. “I’m honored to be a part of the greater service of this community through United Way.”

Prior to kicking off the award ceremony, Katie Koglman, chief executive officer and director of United Way, thanked the community for its support for UW and introduced a short video highlighting some of the incredible work United Way does.

She said 2025 was a year of reflection and one of reckoning.

“While we are incredibly proud of nearly 70 years of service to this community, we need to face a hard truth,” Koglman said. “The model that carried us this far won’t carry us forward. The world has changed. The nonprofit landscape has changed. If we’re serious about meeting needs of the moment, we have to change to.”

She said after the board took a hard look at the current landscape, it became clear there needed to be a reset, and operating on pledges wasn’t a strong financial strategy.

“We made a bold commitment that we would operate with funds on hand,” Koglman said, “because hope is not a strategy and promises weren’t paying bills. Our community deserves stability and not uncertainty.”

She said the goal moving forward is to focus on a wider array of nonprofits to extend an even greater reach into the community.

It was then off to celebrate the award-winning givers throughout the two counties.

The crème de la crème of the awards presentation is the annual Stanley’s Cup, presented to a company for outstanding service to the community in honor of a pair of Stanleys — the late Stanley Gault and the late Stanley Welty Jr.

This year’s award went to The Wooster Brush Company. United Way Treasurer Robert Dodaro said the company’s sense of community is unparalleled.

“We recognize the people and organizations who don’t just talk about community; they show up for it,” Dodaro said. “They invest in it, they build it and make it stronger for all of us. We honor that kind of leadership.”

He said The Wooster Brush Company exemplified all of those traits.

“United Way is such a wonderful organization, and we are proud to be a small part of it,” Stephanie Martinez of Wooster Brush Company said.

The Workplace Campaign Awards are given to businesses and organizations that obtain a perfect 100% participation rate from its employees. This year’s Corporations Awards were presented to Whitaker-Myers Group and Wooster Hydrostatics while the Nonprofits Awards were earned by Anazao Community Partners, Catholic Charities Wayne County, The Children’s Advocacy Center, NAMI Wayne and Holmes Counties, and United Way Wayne and Holmes Counties.

The Circle of Hope honor is presented to businesses and organizations whose employees have collectively donated more than $10,000 in a calendar year, with that honor bestowed upon United Titanium ($43,000), The College of Wooster ($20,000), Cleveland Clinic Wooster ($16,000), The Commercial & Savings Bank ($13,000), Western Reserve Group ($12,000), OneEighty Inc. ($11,000), and United Way Wayne and Holmes Counties ($10,000).

Samantha Davis, UW board president, summed up the event, expressing her gratitude to all who make these two counties special.

“I extend my sincere congratulations to all of our award recipients,” Davis said. “You are setting the standard for what it looks like to show up for your community, not just in words, but in actions. Your generosity matters, and we are confident about the direction ahead that we will respond to continue to meet the needs we face ahead.”

She ended by extending her gratitude to the UW staff, who remains committed to working for all people of Wayne and Holmes counties.