March 17, 2008 — The University of Virginia will recognize the record-setting participation of its employees in two major community outreach efforts — the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign and the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area's Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring — at a luncheon on Thursday, March 20 at noon in Newcomb Hall Ballroom.

The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign is a statewide workplace-giving vehicle for University and state employees. In the campaign that ended in December, 3,807 University employees donated $888,888, a new University record and the largest contribution by a single agency in the commonwealth. The initiative raised $4 million statewide. The top five recipients of University employee giving were the Charlottesville Free Clinic, the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area, the Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, the Thomas Jefferson Food Bank and Hospice of the Piedmont. 

Last September, 1,200 University employees worked at 100 nonprofit organizations and public schools as part of the United Way's Day of Caring. They made up half the workforce of local business employees and set another University participation record.

"The luncheon honors the breadth and depth of University employees’ commitment to help others through their participation in the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring and the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign," Ida Lee Wootten, U.Va.'s director of community relations, said. "Such generosity gives hope to those in need."

University employees and units will receive awards and recognition at the luncheon, which will also include speeches by Wootten; Leonard W. Sandridge, U.Va.'s executive vice president and chief operating officer; and U.Va. politics professor Larry J. Sabato, honorary chair of the University's CVC campaign.

For more on Day of Caring and the CVC, visit the Community Relations' Web site at www.virginia.edu/communityrelations.