Carlos Carrillo Wins 1 Carat Diamond in United Way Draw

If there’s one word that is reiterated by city do-gooders, it’s community. It’s often been said San Angelo is tight-knit, and acts like the Miller blood drive show how much citizens here pull together.

On Wednesday, contributing to the common welfare of the city was paid back to City of San Angelo employee Carlos Carrillo, when he won a $4,000 diamond necklace in the United Way’s annual Diamond Draw.

The giveaway is a collaborative effort of the United Way’s yearly fundraising campaign and a generous donation from United Way supporter and local jeweler, Mark Priest.

“He designs it himself,” says United Way President Patti Breitreiter, adding that Priest has been donating the diamond for 11 years now. Priest, owner of Legend Jewelers, says his design is meant to represent the community and the social institutions present that rely on one another to reach a common goal.

Each year, a theme is selected for the Diamond Draw, and Priest explains how he incorporated this year’s theme, “Count on Me” into the circular pendant of small diamonds around a larger center stone.

“We as a community are the whole design of the pendant,” Priest says. “The United Way and the area agencies that the United Way supports represent the individual stones, but they all lean in toward the center and that is to help the sole, individual person—be it the Food Bank, be it the Boy Scouts, be it the Concho Valley Home for Girls—because every bit of that works together for one common purpose, and that is to help people…That’s always kind of what we have in mind for the theme of it. It all fits together,” he says.

The United Way’s fundraising campaign runs every year from August through the end of December, and seeks to raise money for the support of program providers.

The programs are housed within agencies, who then apply for funding. A committee weighs each application and how the funds are intended to be used, then redistributes funds raised based on those decisions. In total, there are 18 agencies this year seeking funding for programs used by the United Way.

So far, the United Way has raised $1,201,861. Campaign Chair Archie Kountz said, “We’ve had some sources this year that are new money, that we didn’t have last year. Some of our company’s campaigns got their supplier to match their funds…we’ve gotten money from oil companies that are present here, and even some from landowners. I’m very confident. We’ve got a lot of money left to raise.”

An exact figure on how much the United Way hopes to raise by the end of the year has not been stated, but any donation is appreciated, a fact reiterated by the annual diamond giveaway. Individuals who made a donation to the campaign were eligible to enter the drawing, even those who donated a single dollar. The tumbler cage with name cards was packed full on Wednesday when Kountz rotated it once more and Priest went digging for the winner. Carlos Carrillo, a City employee, was unfortunately not present to claim his prize at the time of the drawing. He’ll receive it at a later date.

Parties interested in scheduling a United Way campaign may do so by calling the office at 325-949-3716.

“The United Way supports the community, but the United Way is also very grateful for the support of the community. People that make donations from where they work are the ones that make the campaign work, and we’re very grateful to them,” Kountz said.