Bartlesville Councilman, Former School Board Member Raising Funds For United Way

A city councilor and former school board member from Bartlesville are raising money for charity.

They promise to get a tattoo of the city's new mascot if people can raise $25,000 for United Way by Thursday night at midnight. Bartlesville Regional United Way President and CEO Lisa Cary says they're only at about 60% of their fundraising goal for this year because of the pandemic, but some dedicated, and determined, people are hoping to change that.

"I have zero tattoos,” said Ward 2 Bartlesville City Councilor, Paul Stuart.

Stuart and Former School Board Member Tyler Vaclaw are working together to raise $25,000 dollars for the United Way and if they hit their goal before the New Year, the city's new mascot could become permanent.

"He's here to remind people about the three w's wear a mask, watch your distance and wash your hands,” said Stuart.

The City is Bartlesville used some of their CARES Act Funding to create “Bville Bill - The Bison” and they've even got billboards around town to remind people about the importance of staying safe and “protecting the herd.” but to Paul, this image could mean helping those who are hurting.

"Donations are down and the need is up that these charities are needing to provide,” said Stuart.

The United Way has several funding partners in Washington, Nowata, and Osage Counties and their goal this year was to raise more than 2 million dollars.

They usually have a charity golf tournament to help hit their goal but it was canceled this year due to the pandemic.

"We took a hit big time when we weren't able to have our golf tournament,” said Cary.

2020 has been tough on a lot of people, but it's also been tough on the charities because less donations are coming in.

"I think most of the programs have seen at least double the clients they serve this year so it's been a really challenging year,” said Cary.

Usually, tattoos have a meaning, so Paul is happy that his first tattoo could mean he made a big difference in someone's life.

“They could get their prescriptions or 100 women were able to get mammograms, things like that,” said Stuart it actually made a difference and did something."

Paul and Tyler have a Go Fund Me Page for their tattoo fundraising effort.

If you'd like to donate to the cause, click here.