ESCANABA – Fundraising goals for the United Way of Delta County exceeded the effort in 2012, something that executive director Julie Mallard did not think would happen when she looked at totals in December.

By the end of December, the United Way had raised less than $180-thousand, far short of the $215-thousand dollars raised in 2012.

Mallard extended the fundraising effort to the end of January. The final number is now $217,500.

“Honestly, in December towards the end of the year when we would normally end our campaign I was not even projecting that we were going to hit $200.000 and we’ve never not raised $200,000. So, we really did a lot of beating the bushes that last month,” Mallard said.

The total is still far short of the $250-thousand goal but Mallard says it was the second year in a row where donations actually increased after several years of decline.

One of the agencies that the United Way in Delta County supports is the Girl Scouts.

Girls Scouts in the area have been selling cookies out in front of businesses in Escanaba. Jill Johnson says the girls learn five skills while selling cookies including business ethics, money management and people skills. They also learn to set goals.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for girls in the U.P. and northern Wisconsin. Some girls want to earn money for camp or it’s to attend another council program which we have in March called March Madness. That happens in Manistique and girls from Delta County who travel over to Manistique for the weekend,” Johnson said.

Girls in Gladstone are using the sale of their cookies to help pay for improvements at a park in Gladstone. Johnson says activities like that help the girls develop leadership skills.