Yellowknife (Dec 10/03) - It is still too early to determine if the United Way campaign has met its goal to raise $75,000 for charity this year.

President Bob Haywood said that even though the deadline has past, which was extended to Nov. 29 from the original date set two weeks earlier, they are only getting the results in now, and expect them to continue rolling in until the new year.

"Preliminary numbers show that we are over halfway there," said Haywood. "It looks good. Last year it looked like that at this time."

He said that although many businesses and organizations have generously donated over the six-week campaign period, it will take some time before the money is actually in the hands of organizers and distributed into the community.

Once the official results are in, however, Haywood said a thank you party is in order for the many people who took part in making it a success.

"That wasn't done last year," he said. "And they all deserve a big thank you for their hard work."

Last year's campaign, the first ever in Yellowknife, raised just over $63,000. This year, organizers expect to top that amount by at least $10,000.