Pillars step up the support the community

NORWALK — A way to say thanks to those who do such for the community. The Norwalk Area United Fund held a special gathering recently for the Pillars group. The theme of "Denim and Diamonds" was followed by the Young Philanthropists Event at the Milestone Event Center. Speaking at the event were Brett Montague for the Young Philanthropists group, and Tom Schubert and Dave Bleile for the Pillars. The future, Montague said, belongs to the younger people, and it is good to get them involved with the United Fund. But right now it is the Pillars who are the backbone of the group. "Without this Pillar group the United Fund and this community would be in really dire straits," Schubert said. "I want to go back to the inception. There was a group of people in this community that decided we needed something to raise money because the contributions coming from the manufacturing side were dwindling as those jobs left the community. "In 2007 Jon Ditz, Ed McClendon, Ken Russ, Howard Wilde, John Elmlinger, Chris Stang and Jim Gerken got together and they were the braintrust behind this group." Schubert said the first year was in the fall of 2007. Back then, 34 pillars raised $34,000, which was about 11 percent of the budget. "This year, the previous campaign, there were 136 pillars that raised 66 percent of the budget," he said. "Again, without this group being so generous year after year after year there would be no way to fund all of the agencies that need the funds. "Speaking of funds, we had to increase our budget significantly because of the needs of our community. I am very confident this group will step up and meet that need." The 2022 budget was $415,000, and that was met. The 2023 goal has been raised to $500,000. "This group is such a special group," Bleile said. "Basically, you are everywhere we go, it seems like. There is a lot of things in this community. There is a lot of life and support of so many different areas and we see everybody at those things. "It's amazing what you do. Just your being here inspires somebody else ... every time we think we have hit a high that we can't hit again we've got another group that comes in." Between the board members, pillars, volunteers and staff, there are hundreds of people each year that contribute to making the United Fund what it is, Bleile said. "It's been really special," he said. "It is also really inspiring to see all of the young people who signed up to be here tonight."