Some wise person once said &uot;hard work pays off.&uot; And that person was correct. On Tuesday, folks from all walks of life, were honored for their hard work in raising money for a great cause — the United Way.

The agency recognized top givers for the 1999 fund-raising campaign at its annual meeting.

Under the leadership of campaign chair Kevin Smith and co-chair Cliff Merritt, the campaign was a grand success.

The campaign reached 97.8 percent of its goal by earning $308,316.41. And the money from that campaign will toward 27 different agencies throughout the Miss-Lou.

Raising such a large amount of money is an amazing feat, especially given the economic struggles some local employers have faced this year.

The workers at International Paper’s Natchez mill, which again had the top campaign, showed the kind of dedicated, caring folks we have in the Miss-Lou.

Despite cutbacks at the mill, IP workers were up to the challenge and came through by exceeding their goal.

All in all, this year’s campaign was quite successful and will fund hundreds of wonderful projects throughout the area.

Although it has been a few years since we’ve been in school, we remember how satisfying it was to work hard toward a goal and then receiving an &uot;A.&uot;

And an &uot;A&uot; is exactly what the campaign received and all because of the top-notch givers like you.