Dan Ryan Builders adds on to United Way mark

By QUINN DALY / Journal Staff Writer

United Way Campaign Chair Ken Tyler, left, real estate and development division leader Paula Miller and Dan Ryan division President Ken Fardner hold a giant copy of a check for $25,000 that Dan Ryan Builders donated to the United Way of the Panhandle. (Journal photo by Martin B. Cherry)

MARTINSBURG — The United Way of the Eastern Panhandle moved closer to its fundraising goal for the year to the tune of $25,000 with a donation from an area business.

Dan Ryan Builders presented the United Way with a check on Wednesday morning at the Hospice of the Panhandle center in Martinsburg. The $25,000 donation will go a long way toward helping the United Way reach this year’s fundraising goals, said Ken Tyler, the campaign chairman of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle.

Tyler said the United Way distributes the funds it raises to 40 agencies throughout the Panhandle, including those that assist children, the elderly and healthy homes.

“This is a significant gift to our campaign, and it should really help to jumpstart our fundraising this year,” Tyler said. “Dan Ryan Builders has been a good partner for us in the past, and they’re showing tremendous leadership this year as well.”

Ken Gardner, the Martinsburg division president of Dan Ryan Builders, said the home construction company has always worked to have a strong community affiliation.

“We pride ourselves on our commitment to giving back to the community,” Gardner said.

Karen Paulik, marketing manager for Dan Ryan Builders, said the company has always worked to be a supporter of programs such as those the United Way aids.

“We’re very excited to make this donation, and we want to make sure people know that we are part of the community,” she said.

Paulik said she hopes other firms will follow Dan Ryan Builders’ example, and work to support the United Way in its fundraising efforts.

Vicki Shean, United Way’s director of resource development, said the donation is particularly helpful this year because the United Way has increased its fundraising goals from $1.33 million last year to $1.375 million for 2007.

Shean said she is confident United Way will reach its goal, adding the check presented by Dan Ryan is a great help in making that happen.

“The majority of our donations come from employee-fundraising campaigns, and so Dan Ryan is really leading the way for corporations to help support us,” she said.

— Staff writer Quinn Daly can be reached at (304) 263-8931, ext. 176, or at qdaly@journal-news.net