National Machinery continued its tradition of giving back to the community, donating $138,750 to this year's Tiffin-Seneca United Way campaign.
Before receiving the donation, the campaign was at 30 percent of its $500,000 goal. The local United Way now has raised $258,071.71, or 57 percent of the goal.
Chris Lee of National Machinery said he was not surprised by the amount of money donated by National because of the history the company has of supporting the community.
Dan Frank, also of National Machinery, said the company did drawings for gift cards as an incentive for employees who donated to the campaign.
Employees gave $18,750, while the National Machinery Foundation gave $50,000; the company's corporate gift was $70,000.
Pat DeMonte, executive director of Tiffin-Seneca United Way, said National Machinery has donated more than $1 million over the last 10 years.
She thanked the United Way board members and the people who have worked on the campaign.
"Everyone of you, you are our heroes because you are making a difference every day. What you do at work and in the community, we
really appreciate that," she said.
Kelly Hohman, campaign chairwoman, said United Way has gone out to facilities this year it has not been to before, which has helped the campaign and awareness.
One of those companies, Ameriwood, saw a 31 percent increase in donations this year and averaged $20.48 per employee, compared to $13.75 per employee last year.
Over the past couple of months, the campaign has given presentations to local companies such as Kroger, Quick Tap II, Toledo Molding and Die, Webster Industries, Mercy Hospital of Tiffin and others.
The campaign is to give presentations at American Fine Sinter, Ballreich's, Tiffin Insulators, the U.S. Postal Service, Sonoco and Taiho in the next few weeks.
Last year at this time, United Way was at about 46 percent of its goal, DeMonte said.
The campaign ends March 31.
