In the midst of a week of remembrances for Sept. 11, the Northern Mercer County United Way is asking everybody to remember their community.

The United Way held a luncheon Tuesday at Greenville Country Club in Hempfield Township for its 55th annual campaign.

This year's campaign theme is "Choose to Care."

Last year, the United Way raised $230,000; this year's goal is $235,000, said Stephen Williams, campaign chairman.

Williams said the events of last Sept. 11 affected last year's campaign, keeping the total at only 40 percent of the goal for a long time.

"Not only did we reach our goal, we surpassed it by $5,000," Williams said. "Everybody really pulled together."

The United Way's mission is to serve as a mediator between those who donate money and the agencies who benefit from the funds.

Guest speaker Robert O'Gara, professor at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, told the crowd how the United Way has affected him at different points in his life.

O'Gara recalled his father giving to the United Way at work and bringing home a button with a red feather on it.

At school, the United Way held a "Community Chest" drive, and O'Gara would contribute a dime or a quarter, when he was a boy.

After school hours, O'Gara said he would hang out at the local Boys' Club. The United Way paid the 25-cent dues for any boy who didn't have the money.

Later, when he was in college studying journalism and public relations, a public relations representative from the local United Way chapter spoke to his class and explained the organization's mission. When he was hired at his first job at a Pittsburgh company, part of his duty was to run the United Way campaign.

O'Gara has served as a United Way board member and incorporates United Way marketing campaigns into his teaching.

"If we don't do something in terms of energizing the campaign, we're going to see the community go away," O'Gara said.