United Way of Gordon County will present its annual run for the money as it squares up for the Unity Run on Tuesday, September 25, 2012.

This fundraising event is one of the agency’s signature programs and has been presented in Gordon County for 19 consecutive years and is the official kick-off event for the 2013 United Way community fund raising campaign.

Unity Run 2012 will launch at Gordon Central High School with a 5 p.m. 1k Kids’ Run followed by a 6:30 p.m. 5K Run and will wrap up in the heart of downtown Calhoun.

Transportation will be provided before the run beginning at 4:30 at the Calhoun Depot. Park downtown and ride the bus to the starting point.

“We are very excited to present this wonderful event again and thrilled that Unity Run continues to be so well-received,” said United Way Executive Director Vickie Spence. “It is certainly unusual for a fundraiser to remain popular for this many years but our Unity Run shows no signs of having run its course. Every year, we are fortunate to have many generous sponsors and volunteer participants show up to support it.”

“This year,” Spence continues, “we have a record number of sponsors in place and have already collected more sponsor funds than ever in the event’s history. We have three new sponsors—Engineered Floors, Kobelco and Nance Carpet & Rugs—at our premium Platinum level and many new Friends, so that’s clear evidence our race is still running strong.”

Repeating Platinum sponsors of Unity Run 2012 are Gordon Hospital—which designed the promotional tee shirt this year--Mohawk Industries, NW GA Orthopedics & Sports Medicine and Shaw Industries Group. Kellogg’s is the sole Gold Sponsor and the two Silver Sponsors are Georgia Bank & Trust and Mannington Mills.

Bronze sponsors of Unity Run 2012 include AGC Pediatrics, Brian’s Auto Sales, Chick-fil-A of Calhoun, Duvan Brock Financial Services, Evco Plastics, North Georgia National Bank, Omnova Solutions, Starr-Mathews Agency and Wal-mart.

Unity Run 2012 has many Friends, including Branch Banking & Trust, Bank of the Ozarks, Calhoun City Schools, Calhoun Times, Century Bank of Georgia, Cherokee Capital Radio Society, City of Calhoun, Eddie Tees & More, Family Savings Federal Credit Union, Fitness First of Calhoun, Friends of the GEM and Gordon County.

Also supporting Unity Run as Friends are Gordon Optimist Club, Gordon County Schools, Gordon County(CERT), J&J Waterworks, NorthSide Bank, Perfekt Peace, Judge Richie Parker, Rockbridge Community Church, Roland Hay Farm, Santek Environmental of GA, Tapestry Hospice, United Hospice, WEBS Radio, WJTH Radio and www.djdonnyholmes.com.

Unity Run 2012 builds some excitement into the event by placing schools, corporations, banks, churches and athletes in friendly competition with one another for event honors.

One elementary, middle and high school will be named a participation winner based on the number of students participating in relationship to the respective school’s total enrollment.

By the same measure, two corporate winners will be named: one for the corporation that has the most participating runners and one for the corporation that has the highest percentage of its employees taking part. Banks will compete for the same two opportunities to win.

This year, there will be a new participation category for local churches. The Run for God winner will be the participating church that shows the largest number of run participants.

A Master Runner will be named in both male and female categories for the runner under the age of 40 with the best run time and Grand Master Runner in both male and female categories for runners over 40 will also be awarded.

United Way of Gordon County has a mission to accurately assess the needs of Gordon County and to mobilize available resources to meet those needs.

It operates as an umbrella agency and funds 18 member agencies. For more information on its programs, visit www.gordoncountyunitedway.org or contact Vickie Spence at 706-602-5548