Marianne Frederick is a humorist and a motivational speaker, and you'd have a better chance of seeing Bigfoot than seeing Ms. Frederick without a festive, head-turning hat atop her head.

Since the United Way of the CSRA wears so many hats, it seemed appropriate that she was the group's keynote speaker at its annual meeting Tuesday.

Keeping with the meeting's Hollywood theme, she wore a piled-high turban in homage to 1940s film star Carmen Miranda.

Then Ms. Frederick led applause for the real stars of the day -- all the people who raised money for the United Way.

This year the organization tried something intriguingly different. Instead of setting a fund-raising goal as they have in past years, they merely encouraged companies and private donors to give what they could.

The result? Not bad at all, considering corporate downsizing and other economic concerns. The local United Way campaign raised $4,321,409 -- about $95,000 less than last year's record goal.

That says a lot about the charitable-minded people in our area.

When paychecks aren't stretching as far, when we're putting $3-a-gallon gas in our cars, and when many people are facing down the home-mortgage crisis -- amid all that -- United Way still comes within a comparative eyelash of last year's goal.

That's a true testament to the CSRA's spirit of giving toward dozens of community programs that help at-risk youth, victims of violence, senior citizens or just neighbors who need a hand.

And it's never too late to give. Call (706) 724-5544, or log on to www.uwcsra.org, to find out how you can give money or volunteer your time to our United Way.