LULING — United Way of St. Charles announced at its Victory Celebration that it raised $69,051 more than this time last year.

“To date, United Way of St. Charles has raised a total of $2,503,555. This is quite an increase from last year’s campaign as well as the largest fundraising campaign in the organization’s history,” stated Ricky Cheramie, UWSC Campaign co-chair for 2013-14.

The Victory Cele–bra—-tion, held at Or-mond Plantation in Destrehan, announced the accomplishments of United Way of St. Charles’ Annual Cam-paign and recognized companies with success in their workplace campaigns.

“United Way of St. Charles would like to thank all the local industries, businesses and individuals for their hard work in making this campaign a success. You all should be very proud,” stated Shloe Jeffery, 2013-14 Campaign co-chair, as she addressed the audience of company leaders and campaign coordinators.

Companies such as Valero St. Charles Refinery, Norco Manu-facturing Complex, Rain CII Carbon, Dow St. Charles Operations, Entergy Waterford 3, Monsanto, Cornerstone Chemical Company, OxyChem, ARTCo, Mo–mentive, Turner In-dustries, and Zachry received top honors for success in campaign improvement, employee per capita giving, corporate giving, percent participation, and leadership giving.

Also recognized at the Victory Celebration were the non-industry campaigns of St. Charles Parish Public Schools, St. Charles Community Health Center, AM/PM Staffing Services, Catholic Charities, St. Charles Borromeo School, Creative Family Solutions, St. Charles Parish Clerk of Court, St. Charles Parish Hospital, First National Bank, St. Charles Parish Council on Aging, J&K Office Supplies, St. Charles Parish Government, United Way of St. Charles, Rotary Club of St. Charles Parish, and St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The Newcomer’s Award in recognition of companies that conducted a campaign for the first time in 2013 was presented to Latter & Blum, St. Charles Borromeo School and ADM Destrehan. The Excellence in Partnership Award was presented to Arc of St. Charles, Alpha Daughters of Zion, American Red Cross, CADA, Catholic Chari-ties, Child Advocacy Services, Creative Family Solutions, SCSO Crisis Assistance Program, Girl Scouts, Metro Center for Women, Norco Adult Day Care, RSVP, St. Charles Community Health Center, St. Charles Parish Council on Aging, St. Charles Parish Hospital Auxi-liary and SCSO TRIAD in celebration of United Way of St. Charles partner agencies who conduct a campaign.

Valero was awarded the highest honor of the night, receiving the UWSC Spirit Award in recognition of the best overall United Way campaign. In 2013-14, Valero St. Charles Operations raised more than $932,066 for United Way.

“It’s easy to see why St. Charles Parish is such a wonderful place,” stated Matt Ward, UWSC Campaign co-chair for 2013-14. “All of the people in this room have contributed toward making our community a better place to live and work.”