The United Way of the Coastal Empire’s 2016 Effingham County Campaign announced Wednesday morning that donations from various businesses and groups in the area totaled $337,813 for this year.

Joe Tallent, Campaign Chair for Effingham County, spoke to UWCE members at the morning ceremony and thanked the partners who donated.

“New Advisory Board Members jumped in and were active during the campaign,” Tallent said. “We’re thankful for new employee campaigns added this year, including Georgia Transformer, Bresnan Property Management, Platinum Partners and Edward Jones. In addition, Board Members reopened doors for employees to participate in the campaign at both Rincon Chevrolet and The Effingham Herald.”

Organizations that gave donations over $10,000 include Effingham Health System ($13,000) and Kroger Marketplace-Rincon ($15,000).

The Effingham County Board of Education contributed $84,058.

“Every year, they are pacesetters,” Tallent said of the Effingham BOE. “They continually give at this level. They held employee meetings prior to kickoff.”

Another major contributor was Georgia-Pacific Savannah River Mill, who gave a foundation gift, produced a campaign video, held numerous internal fundraising events and gave a total donation of $186,856.

“The generosity throughout Effingham County is unmatched,” Tallent said. “On behalf of United Way of the Coastal Empire, the programs who receive funding to serve our community and the recipients of those services, thank you for being ‘The One’ again this year.”