NORWICH – After a highly successful campaign, the Chenango United Way is celebrating the fact that this year it will be able to fund more than 81 percent of the programs requesting money this year.

The CUW campaign ended Dec. 31, and when all the donations were counted and verified, the organization had easily surpassed its goal of $465,000. During the campaign, $475,772.22 was raised in Chenango County. Combined with the allocations from other United Ways, which totaled $35,872.63, the total amount raised in the drive was $511,644.85.

“Given the economy, we are pleased with the results and hope we can continue next year,” said CUW Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco.

Last year, United Way raised $488,876, but because of the a high number of organizations requesting a good deal of money, only 18 of the 32 programs that submitted requests were funded.