The United Way of Berks County\u2019s 2025 campaign raised $11.1 million, successfully surpassing its goal, the organization announced at its annual Celebrate United event.<\/p>\n
The campaign co-chaired by Craig and Sue Perrotty exceeded the $10.75 million target, officials said, noting the funds support more than 80 local programs focused on education, food security, health and financial stability.<\/p>\n
More than 350 community leaders, nonprofit supporters and business partners gathered Tuesday at the DoubleTree hotel by Hilton, Reading, to celebrate the victory.<\/p>\n
The occasion also highlighted the organization\u2019s initiatives and honored the individuals and businesses supporting United Way\u2019s mission to improve lives and build a stronger community.<\/p>\n
One of the night\u2019s top honors, the Impact Award, was presented to Brentwood Industries for its ongoing support.<\/p>\n
The award celebrates individuals or groups that demonstrate exceptional dedication to improving education, financial stability, health, and community resilience.<\/p>\n
The plastics manufacturer, headquartered in Reading, operates multiple manufacturing and distribution facilities globally. Its leadership team and employees have consistently contributed through volunteerism, financial support and year-round engagement with the organization\u2019s work in the community, United Way officials said.<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s highest honor, the 70th annual Doran Award, was presented to the Perrottys.<\/p>\n
The award recognizes individuals or couples for exceptional, long-term commitment to community service and philanthropy.<\/p>\n
Sue Perrotty is the retired CEO of Tower Health and has held leadership roles in banking and philanthropy.<\/p>\n
Craig Perrotty retired from the financial services field and continues to serve in leadership positions with several local nonprofit organizations.<\/p>\n
The couple was recognized for their decades of volunteer leadership and philanthropy, benefiting both United Way and Berks County.<\/p>\n
United Way also announced Brad and Tanya Stephenson as its 2026 campaign co-chairs.<\/p>\n
Brad Stephenson is co-owner and CEO of New Castle Lawn & Landscape and works as a consultant focused on leadership and business growth.<\/p>\n
Tanya Stephenson is a licensed physical therapy assistant.<\/p>\n
\u201cTanya and I are incredibly honored to share that we\u2019ve been selected to Co-Chair the 2026 United Way of Berks County Campaign,\u201d Brad Stephenson wrote in a social media post. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a title for us. It\u2019s personal\u2026 Berks County has given us so much: opportunity, relationships, support and purpose. Stepping into this role feels like a responsibility to return that gift in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n
United Way officials said the Stephensons have long supported local nonprofits and will be instrumental to the success of the organization\u2019s next fundraising campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in United Way because we know dollars are put to work with purpose and support programs that change lives every day,\u201d Brad Stephenson said at the event Tuesday, thanking the organization for the show of confidence. \u201cWe\u2019re excited, we\u2019re committed and we\u2019re ready to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n
United Way does the hard and often unseen work that strengthens families, supports those in crisis and builds a better future for all in Berks, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be trusted to help lead that effort is humbling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The celebration also featured presentations focused on the organization\u2019s investments in early childhood education, literacy and teen leadership development.<\/p>\n
United Way representatives said the organization\u2019s efforts extend from kindergarten readiness and early grade reading proficiency to career pathway exposure and leadership opportunities for teenagers.<\/p>\n
The event was sponsored by Customers Bank, East Penn Manufacturing, EnerSys, Penske Transportation Solutions and UGI Energy Services.<\/p>\n
United Way of Berks County works to bring people together to strengthen families and communities by investing in local partner agencies and supporting initiatives that improve health, stability, education and crisis response throughout the county.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United Way of Berks County\u2019s 2025 campaign raised $11.1 million, successfully surpassing its goal, the organization announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-186172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}