The United Way of Southeast Idaho is well underway with its annual workplace fundraising campaign.

The campaign, which encourages local businesses and individuals to raise money for United Way, officially kicks off in late September, though Kelly Stombaugh, resource development associate for the United Way, said some businesses start their campaigns later and others even run them year round.

This year’s campaign goal is $750,000, and Stombaugh said all the money raised goes directly to the programs and organizations, as the United Way has separate funding to cover overhead and administration costs.

“Whatever comes in goes 100 percent to those programs,” Stombaugh said.

According to Stombaugh, about 150 businesses typically participate in the campaign, raising funds through activities such as raffles, auctions and gift giving, as well as voluntary wage deductions from employees.

Money raised in the campaign goes to United Way, which acts as an intermediary, distributing the money among other organizations.

Stombaugh said that businesses and individuals can choose which organizations are supported by their contributions.

The United Way sponsors 30 specific agencies, but donors can specify that their contributions go toward any nonprofit.

Sponsored agencies include Aid for Friends, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, Idaho Food Bank, Salvation Army and others.

Agencies become sponsored by applying for grants through the United Way, and they are each vetted and checked before being approved.

Additionally, the United Way of Southeast Idaho leads several organizations, including a children’s book drive, Cradle to Career, which promotes pre-kindergarten education and career readiness, and a free prescription discount program, which enables people, insured or uninsured, to receive their prescriptions at a discounted price.

Kelly Martinez, the campaign chairman and a local morning radio show host, said he feels passionately about the campaign, as he has been interested in the United Way since childhood.

“I watched football as a kid, and there were always United Way commercials with these NFL stars,” Martinez said. “I thought that was so cool, and I wanted to do that.”

Years later, when he was working at Fred Meyer, Martinez said representatives from United Way came to speak to the employees about their mission and ask for paycheck donations. Martinez said he was more than happy to help.

“It was so much more than those commercials were,” he said. “You talk about the cutting edge of everything we can do to set up society and a community for success to help those in need. They’re giving you all the tools, and all they’re asking is for you to support them because these programs work.”

Martinez and Stombaugh have been working to get the word out about the campaign, along with Rainbow Maldonado, the new communications and marketing coordinator for the United Way of Southeast Idaho.

“The difference that (United Way) is making in the community with all these different entities is huge,” Maldonado said. “We are definitely a service-oriented community.”

Though the campaign focuses primarily on monetary donations, Stombaugh said they also welcome volunteers who can help at different organizations.

“We continually are just trying to branch out and help as many organizations as we can,” Stombaugh said. “Through this, it gives businesses that opportunity to get extra funding besides just what they’re getting from their local community.”

If a business or individual is interested in participating in the campaign, they can call Stombaugh at 208-232-1389.