Elyria, Ohio: United Way of Greater Lorain County concluded its signature fundraiser, A Night at The Bee, on Friday, April 19, 2024 with The Collaborative Leadership Bees capturing the overall championship.
A Night at The Bee is a light-hearted team competition testing local community members in the categories of spelling, art, history, and STEM. The event is presented by Nordson Corporation in support of United Way of Greater Lorain County’s local education initiatives focused on kindergarten readiness and middle school success.
The event took place at Lorain County Community College in Elyria with Mz Nikki of Kool Kat WDLW Radio serving as emcee, Bruce VanDyke of AM 930 WEOL Radio as host, and Dave Rivera of Lorain County Country WOBL Radio as crowd entertainer. The competition was judged by Elyria City School District superintendent Ann Schloss.
Through the generosity of the community, United Way raised over $28,000 from the event to support education initiatives across the county.
“I am constantly inspired by the compassionate giving of our community,” said United Way of Greater Lorain County president and CEO Ryan Aroney. “The support for A Night at the Bee continues to grow and has really become one of the highlights of the year. We have a lot of fun and for a great cause that allows us to maintain our commitment to local students who need the support now more than ever.”
The winning teams for each of the four categories were the KeyBees representing Key Community Collaborative in the Spelling Bee, Rotartbees representing Rotary Club of Elyria in the STEM Bee, Elyria Foundry in the History Bee, and Commodore Cognoscenti representing Lorain County Community College in the Art Bee.
The overall 2024 A Night at the Bee champion was The Collaborative Leadership Bees. The champions received a grand prize of $1,000 courtesy of Ross Environmental Services and a traveling trophy with each member’s name engraved. The trophy will be up for grabs again in next year’s competition.
To learn more about United Way’s education initiatives that are supported by the event, visit uwloraincounty.org/education.
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United Way of Greater Lorain County leads community-wide innovation to tackle problems that most people say can’t be solved. In unforgiving cities, overlooked townships, and seemingly docile suburbs. We find every dollar we can to address them. But we are more than the fundraisers. United Way brings together over 150 organizations to power 10 Community Collaboratives. Together, we fight for the health, education, and financial stability of low-income working families who need our help in Greater Lorain County. We have one life. To live better, we must Live United. Learn more at uwloraincounty.org or by calling 440-277-6530.