The Portage Plains United Way hosted a big event at the Glesby Centre this afternoon. Executive Director Pamela Lotun says it was an event to kick off their yearly fundraising.

"Today was the 2018 Fundraising Campaign Kickoff Luncheon," says Lotun. "We invited the community to join us as we made some announcements about our organization and what to expect for the year."

The luncheon is an event where some of the fundraising events for the year are talked about and shared with the supporters in the community. Lotun also mentioned they had a big announcement about the United Way chapter in Portage and their fundraising goal for the year.

"We are changing our name to United Way Central Plains," says Lotun. "This is to better represent our large catchment area. This year we are hoping to raise $225,000 for our member agencies."

There were numerous presenters at the event including Peggy Mae, CEO of Southport and Nicole Nichols of Simplot who spoke about their efforts to encourage employees to donate through various different programs offered at their workplaces.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the chapter and Lotun says they are looking forward to a big year.

The next big event for the United Way Central Plains is on October 14th, when they will have a Spooky Sunday Halloween Movie Party.