ASHLAND — United Way of Ashland County’s annual fundraising breakfast held Thursday was filled with applause, laughter and renewed motivation for the year ahead.
But at the source of the merriment was a story shared by Dan Lawson, United Way’s campaign chair. Lawson, accompanied by his wife and campaign co-chair, Lynne, told a personal story of financial struggle he witnessed during a cold winter.
Lawson said he was 7 or 8 years old at the time. On one cold evening, as he fetched wood for the stove, his dad invited him to tagalong on an errand to “Ole Pruny’s” general store.
“When we got there, instead of getting out and going into the store to say ‘hi’ to people, he stayed in the truck,” he said. His dad told him to go inside and ask for a pound of bologna and a loaf of bread — and to tell Ole Pruny to “put it on his account.”
“I didn’t quite understand what was going on at the time. But later on I figured the shame and embarrassment he must have felt because he wasn’t able to put food on the table that night,” Lawson said.
The young Lawson went up the meat counter and ordered a pound of sliced bologna and then ventured down to aisle four and found a Wonder loaf of bread.
Back at the meat counter, he said, “My dad said to put this on his account.” The butcher slid the meat across the counter to him and said, “You tell your dad he’ll be OK.”
At home, he carried in the groceries and placed it on the kitchen table, where his mom sat. When she saw the meal, she began to cry, Lawson said, and went up to bed while the sun still shone.
“I don’t know why I did it, but I went up the (bedroom) door and I said, ‘Mom, Ole Pruny says it’ll be OK.’ Somehow I felt some comfort in his words and I thought maybe she might too,” Lawson said.
Back in the kitchen, his dad prepared bologna sandwiches, which also featured thinly-sliced Colby Jack cheese — a surprise addition the general store’s owner had included free of charge.
“In a lot of ways Ole Pruny was kind of like a former United Way and our partner agencies. I mean, we’re all here to help people get by when times are tough,” he said.
A silence fell across the room full of around 200 guests as he pivoted to the event’s focus: drumming up support for the charity’s fundraising efforts.
This year, United Way of Ashland County’s goal is raise $850,000 for its partner agencies that provide rental assistance, food, housing and other services.
Several donors, dubbed pacesetters for their lofty fundraising goals and accomplishments, produced videos this year to announce their goals heading into the next round.
Centerra Co-Op hopes to raise $55,000 this year, Ashland City Schools has raised just over $20,000 already, and Brethren Care Village has raised $12,123.
Stacy Schiemann, United Way of Ashland County’s executive director, said the annual breakfast is a pep rally of sorts heading into a new year of fundraising for partner agencies. This year’s theme is, “The show goes on.”
“It’s a special day for us, it’s an exciting day for us — we are here to always serve,” she said.
So far, United Way has helped raise $311,674, or 37% of the $850,000 goal.
Last year, she said, partner agencies served people in the county 18,668 times, which included people of all ages throughout the county, as well as 384 veterans.
Of the 18,668 instances, 13,381 included people living in poverty, according to information provided by United Way.
“These are our neighbors, friends, students, clients, people we go to church with – they are people we know and care about,” Schiemann said in a prepared statement.
For more information about United Way and how to be involved in this year’s fundraising campaign, visit their website.
