Rowan County United Way

If Dawn Lohman wins a new car Friday as part of United Way of Rowan County’s campaign giveaway, her son will be getting a big early Christmas present.

Lohman is one of 12 finalists in the running for the new car, with the winner to be announced at the United Way’s grand finale meeting at noon Friday at the J.F. Hurley YMCA. The campaign has a goal of $1.879 million this year.        

Lohman’s son, John, is a law student at Campbell University, and she would like nothing better than to give him a new car. “He will argue with me, but he’ll get over it,” she says.

Giving to others is how Lohman lives. An employee of Dillard’s Distribution, she says that she likes to help others and she designates her United Way contributions to the Women’s Shelter. “I think women in those situations need places to go,” she says. “I like to help people.”

A win would be a first-time event for her, and for other finalists as well.

Louise Klaver, senior program director at the Salisbury-Rowan YMCA, is also a finalist and says that she has never won a thing. She is supportive of the distribution of funds by United Way. “They work so hard to keep the money here in Rowan,” she says. “Our county needs it so very much.”

Both Klaver and Lohman are longtime supporters of United Way. To be eligible for the new car drawing, sponsored by four Salisbury dealerships, a person must give at least $1 per week for a year to the United Way. The four Salisbury dealerships participating are: Ben Mynatt Nissan, Gerry Wood Auto Group, Cloninger Ford Toyota Scion, and Team Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC.

Three finalists were chosen at each of the campaign’s progress report meetings this fall. Other finalists are: Nancy Goodson and Susan Musselman, both with Rufty-Holmes Senior Center; Sean Ingram, Angie Robinson, and Jeremy Floyd, all of Freightliner, Nancy Goodnight of Millbridge Elementary School, Rachel Mobley of Family Crisis Council, Thomas O’Kelly with Rowan County Code Enforcement, Carole Croshaw with the Rowan-Salisbury School System, and Louis Kraft with Rowan Vocational Opportunities.

At the grand finale, the names of all 12 finalists are drawn. The last name drawn is the winner of the car. Then, the new car is selected by the winner drawing the name of one of the four dealerships participating. The other three dealerships contribute 25% each to the cost of the car.

Brad Wood of Gerry Wood Auto Group says he has found that United Way is one of the most efficient ways of getting funds to the people in need. “All the money stays in Rowan,” he says. “The United Way is filling very core basic needs in Rowan that need to be addressed, particularly in the last five years.”

Todd Rakes of Ben Mynatt Nissan said that the car giveaway is an incentive for people to participate in United Way, and he calls United Way “a great way of touching the community that needs the money most. “We know that they do a really good job of where the money is needed.”

The 15 local agencies that the United Way funds are: American Red Cross, The Arc Rowan, Boy Scouts, Communities in Schools, Families First, Family Crisis Council, Literacy Council, Meals on Wheels, Rowan Rescue Squad, Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, Salvation Army, Trinity Living Center, Vocational Opportunities, Youth Services Bureau and the YMCA of Rowan County.