FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                   

Contact:            Pete Winton, Lee County Administration
             (941) 335-2777                

LEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT TOPS LAST YEAR’S UNITED WAY GIVING

FORT MYERS, Fla. (December 5, 2002) – Lee County Government Employees raised more than $70,000 for United Way during its recent annual fundraising campaign – topping last year’s giving by more than 15 percent.

Employees raised the money through pledges and payroll deductions, food sales, raffles and other contests.

Last year, the county raised more than $61,000.

“I would like to thank you and all the team captains for the great effort you put into this year’s campaign,” United Way Campaign Division Manager Kay Timms recently wrote to county Human Resources Director George Williams.

“Your leadership as a group helped make this the county’s most successful year to date.”

Lee County Government has 2,200 employees, operates 25 departments and divisions, and spends more than $500 million annually on an array of projects, programs and services, including Parks & Recreation, Libraries, Roads, Public Safety, Public Transit, Animal Control, Utilities, Community Development, Human Services, Natural Resources Management, Economic Development and the Visitor & Convention Bureau.