BENTONVILLE — The guest list was top shelf per the usual Pillars-level givers, but Tuesday's gathering of local United Way donors was smaller-to-scale and more business-like than many past Pillars parties.
Pillars people - those who give $1,000 or more to the United Way's annual fund drive - gathered at Compton Gardens for snacks, some nonalcoholic drinksand words of appreciation from Northwest Arkansas board chairman, Ken Robertson, and 2010 Community Resource Campaign co-chairman Shawn Walker.
The current campaign, lessthan 3 weeks old, seeks to match last year's take of $4.1 million.
"We have to be able to raise at least that much," said Walker, a father of three and relative newcomer to the area. Organizers are seeking an additional $80,000 in donations from benefactors who give at the Pillars level and above.
Tuesday's Pillars get-together was the first in Benton County since the United Way groups inWashington and Benton counties melded in July 2007. Previous Pillars appreciation parties grew to include hundreds of people, many of them courted as potential donors. The crowd at the most recent reception was a fraction of the number of guests at past parties.
Food provided by The Event Group included "veggie shots" (vegetable sticks served in shot glasses of ranch dressing), tequila-infused shrimp cocktail, mini chicken quesadillas, bruschetta, fruit and a pineapple display.
After some noshing and remarks about the campaign, a few guests braved the rain for a stroll along the Crystal Bridges Trail, a 1 1 /2-mile pedestrian-bike trail that follows the western edge of the construction site for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Northwest Profile, Pages 46 on 09/20/2009