Walter Dukes isn't building a resume in chairing the 2008 United Way of the CSRA campaign.

He's helping build a community.

In the process, he's helping his own family. His son, he told the 600-plus gathered at the United Way kickoff luncheon, is learning to swim in a program for those with disabilities through the Family Y, a United Way agency.

The Y is just one of 19 area human service organizations that depend on the annual United Way campaign to help youths, strengthen families, promote health and safety and provide emergency services in times of family or community need.

As Dukes' own testimony indicates, the United Way campaign touches everyone, either directly or indirectly.

His $4.5 million goal for the 11-week campaign, though, will be challenging, considering the state of the national economy.

But as Mayor Deke Copenhaver told the crowd, Augusta has been blessed to weather the economic storm better than most. And when you're blessed, you feel the need to give back.

The United Way is a great way to do it.

The consolidated campaign eliminates the need for 19 other fundraising campaigns. And anyone involved in the United Way can tell you that the organization keeps its partner agencies highly accountable for the funds they receive. The United Way requires proof of "outcomes" -- results, to the layman.

The crowd at Monday's kickoff was treated to a video featuring two of those outcomes: a man who lost everything to drug use, but got it back through the Salvation Army, and a woman whose Burke County family became homeless in an instant during a tornado, but who found help immediately through the Red Cross.

The video had to be short, so it couldn't tell the thousands of other stories of lives saved, redirected and redeemed by the very diverse agencies funded by the United Way.

Just know that if the chairman of the campaign can be touched by the United Way, you can too.

If your workplace has a campaign, please consider giving whatever amount you feel you can. If it doesn't, seek out the United Way (706-724-5544).

You can always give more than money, too, says United Way board Chairman Jeff Spears. Give, advocate and volunteer, he implored the community.

"Give an hour, give your Saturday, give your best," he said.

It's the easiest, fastest route to helping our friends and neighbors in need.

It's no coincidence that the word "community" ends with "unity."