Drive United Giveaway winner announced

Friday, Nov. 9, Nacogdoches County United Way volunteers and Rex Perry, of Rex Perry Autoplex, surprised the staff of Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital during a staff lunch by announcing that Doris Berry, a medical necessity nurse was the winner of the Rex Perry Autoplex DRIVE UNITED Giveaway.

The giveaway, a new addition to the Live United Campaign, allowed those who pledged to give at least $208 in 2013 with a chance to win a 2013 Hyundai Accent from Rex Perry Autoplex.

Berry, who has worked at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital for the past 10 years, says that she has been giving to the United Way for years, and has always encouraged others to give as well.

“Years ago, they [United Way] helped my mom; when we didn’t have what we needed, they were always there to help us,” Berry said in an interview with KTRE Friday after she was announced as the winner. “Giving to the United Way, you’re always blessing somebody else, people you never even knew about, and that’s what people did for us when we were coming up.”

The whole room erupted in cheers and applause when Berry was announced as the winner, and many, including Berry and Rex Perry, were in tears. Perry said he couldn’t have picked a better person to win the car than Berry.

Due to the state of the economy, Berry almost didn’t give to the United Way this year, but said that something in her said: “You need to give, because that’s the main reason for someone else to have [what they need]. You’ve got to give.”

Berry didn’t even know that she had qualified to be entered into the giveaway, saying that she gave because “it was the right thing to do.”

“I didn’t even care if I won or not, but I knew that someone was going to be blessed by my giving. I really thank God that he showed me that if you give with an unselfish heart, just give to give, He will benefit you.”

The 2013 Live United Campaign ran from the kickoff on Aug. 28 through Nov. 7. The goal for this year’s campaign was $325,000, and because of the many donors like Doris Berry, as well as the hard work of countless volunteers, NCUW was able to surpass that goal, reporting $359,000 as of Nov. 9.

“Transitioning to the Community Impact model has given us the capacity to involve more volunteers, resulting in such a productive campaign,” Gary Lee Ashcraft, President and CEO of NCUW said. “Everyone’s beginning to get what it is that United Way does for this community.”

To celebrate the end of the campaign, as well as officially giving the car away to Berry, NCUW would like to invite the community to its 60^th Year Celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Rex Perry Autoplex. This is a family-friendly event, and all are welcome. As part of NCUW’s partnership with the Nacogdoches Chamber of Commerce, there will also be a ribbon cutting to commemorate the next 60 years of Living United in Nacogdoches County.