St. Thomas, VI, September 28 – On Saturday, September 28, United Way of St. Thomas-St. John paid tribute to over 400 individuals, businesses, and private and public entities for their contributions to and volunteer support of the United Way 2001-2002 fundraising campaign.

Speaking before a large crowd at the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas, past campaign chair Susan Laura Lugo, said that reaching – and surpassing - the campaign goal of $650,000 “is really all about people. People who benefit from the services the member agencies provide and people who care enough to help others.”

Four companies were named the Corporate Supporters of the Year for their contributions of $10,000 or more to the United Way. They are the West Indian Company, Dudley, Topper and Feuerzeig, LLP, the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association and Topa Equities (VI), Ltd. Outstanding Corporate Support awards for gifts between $5,000 and $9,999 went to seven companies. Receiving these honors were the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Bank of Nova Scotia, MSI Building Supplies, Caneel Bay Resort, Caribbean Atlantic Trading, FirstBank, and Knight Quality Stations. The top three companies receiving Gold Awards for gifts between $1,000 and $4,999 were Banco Popular, Globalvest Management Company and the Sea Chest.

Ms. Lugo highlighted the significance of employee campaigns to the United Way, stating that over 43% of the campaign total came from employee campaigns. Eighteen employee groups were recognized as Gold Award winners because their per capita gift amounted to $100 or more. They are the Knight Quality Stations, Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., Innovative Cable TV, Seslia Securities, Dudley, Topper and Feuerzeig, Theodore Tunick & Company, MSI Building Supplies, Tom Bolt & Associates, Sea Chest, Dial-A-Ride St. Thomas, Red Hook Ace, Dudley, Clark & Chan, United Parcel Service, V.I. Council, Boy Scouts of America; Wireless World, H.E. Lockhart Management, Inc.; Topa Insurance, Legal Services of the V.I., and the Daily News Publishing Company.

Two Volunteer of the Year awards were given. Scott Barber was honored for his leadership role as the 2001 United Way president and Susan Laura Lugo for her outstanding efforts as the 2001-2002 campaign chair.