Jean-Guy Bruneau
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| Jeannine Charette with the United Way Community Builder Award given to the University this year. |
Jeannine Charette sounds calm enough, but the clipped and firm tone leaves no room for equivocation. If Charette is prepared to devote as much effort and energy as she does to the organization of the campus United Way Campaign, it’s because she is convinced beyond doubt of the importance of helping those who are destitute or forgotten or simply people who need a little support along the way.
For five months of the year, from August through December, she takes leave from her job in the President’s Office to commit herself full time to this annual community-wide fundraising drive by taking on the job of administrator of the University of Ottawa United Way Campaign.
As her title suggests, her job as administrator involves overseeing the nuts and bolts of the campaign, but that glosses over the thousand-and-one small jobs, the emergencies and the unexpected problems that continually crop up – all part of her daily routine. The volume and variety of the campaign related correspondence alone are unbelievable.
In addition, establishing objectives by sector for the faculties and services means taking the time to create and maintain individual personal contacts. And finally, the recruitment and training of the 150 odd volunteers needed to conduct the campaign is a logistical challenge in itself.
“We need to let employees know about the depth and breadth of problems out there,” she says. “That’s why we have to train our volunteers to answer the variety of questions they are likely to be asked by donors.”
Jeannine is in her eighth year as campaign administrator, but her enthusiasm hasn’t waned in the slightest. She remains buoyed, she says, by the University’s unfailing support of the United Way.
She is also quick to give a special nod to the retired employees for their donation of about 11 per cent of the total annual campaign contributions.
If the days leading up to the launch of this year’s campaign seem a bit overwhelming, Jeannine Charette manages to retain her usual calm, which can only mean that she’s confident of reaching this year’s $358,000 goal.
Although she often works 10- and sometimes 12-hour workdays during the campaign, she looks to Mother Nature to find the wherewithal to keep up the pace.
She and her husband are committed outdoors enthusiasts, specifically fans of camping and fishing. “It’s all a matter of balance,” she says simply.
