ASHLAND — Kindness given with no strings attached helped pulled Nicole Hawks through a “painful” upbringing.
“Our household was the kind that many of our partner agencies see every day and try to help,” Hawks said of her childhood home in Boise, Idaho.
Now, Hawks and her husband, Robert, are paying that kindness forward by serving as chairs for United Way’s fundraising campaign in 2025.
The nonprofit organization has vowed to raise $925,000 that will be disbursed through various Ashland County organizations serving people in need.
This year’s goal comes after the organization raised a record $1,006,498 during last year’s campaign.
‘No decorations, no gifts’
In front of around 250 people gathered Thursday morning at Ashland University’s convocation center, Hawks shared parts of her rough childhood to underscore the importance of United Way’s mission to help others.
She described her mother and stepfather as “neglectful” and “abusive,” noting the family didn’t have enough money to keep the heat on, making it literally and figuratively cold.
She remembered the first Christmas with her blended family as “a far cry from the Christmas that I once knew.”
“No decorations, no gifts, no dressing up, no holiday meal. We barely had enough in the kitchen to scrape together something to eat … I just knew that life was going to bleak for a while. And it was,” she said.
Hawks said her upbringing made life hard. But she said the kindness she experienced from strangers helped solidify a determination to escape, to break a cycle of brokenness.
At 15, she got a job and worked full time so she could “help with school supplies, clothes, food, extracurriculars.” She graduated high school with honors, and earned a professional degree.
Today, she works as an attorney specializing in estate planning and elder law at Critchfield, Critchfield & Johnston.
“If we have our needs met, can we look into our hearts to share what we have, so that others may struggle less? So that others may feel love and support?” Hawks said, challenging the audience.
She earned a standing ovation.
Watch United Way’s video that kicked off this year’s fundraising.
By the numbers
Stacy Schiemann, United Way of Ashland County’s executive director, said Hawks’ story highlights the needs evident in Ashland County.
Last year, the organization reached 19,363 people in all of the county’s zip codes, she said. Yet residents are still struggling with homelessness and housing, drug addiction, unemployment and underemployment and child care.
Schiemann acknowledged the oft-expressed frustration among some that the money might go to people who don’t make the best decisions.
“We can feel frustrated. ‘We’ve given them everything. Why are they not doing what they need to? They have all the resources in the world,’” she said.
But, she said, many of the people they help have children.
“So we really like to look at this as a two-generational approach. Change cannot always happen in one-fell swoop,” Schiemann said. “So this is a long game. This is not short term. It takes time and takes energy, it takes support, it takes compassion.”
Schiemann recognized United Way’s 15 pacesetters, area businesses that pledged to raise a certain amount of money. This year, those pacesetters have vowed to raise a total of $317,000.
Those pacesetters announced their individual fundraising goals in a video, like in years past. This year, United Way allowed attendees to vote on their favorite videos, which followed an ‘80s theme.
Lake Erie Frozen Foods, which pledged to raise $30,000, won the inaugural trophy. The video featured Bill Buckingham, the company’s former president, day dreaming to music from Dirty Dancing. His face was superimposed over a dancing Patrick Swayze.
