If it weren't for Every Child Succeeds, a United Way effort, a 19-year-old Delhi Township woman wouldn't know how to handle her crying infant son.

        Rhonda Maples' solution once was to give the child candy. Now, she changes his diaper and makes sure that he's been burped and is not hurt or hungry.

        “If I showed attention, he'd keep acting bad. It wasn't helping,” said Ms. Maples, who has worked with Carolyn Sullivan, an Every Child Succeeds nurse, since she was pregnant.

        United Way helped develop Every Child Succeeds two years ago. The collaborative effort serves 1,500 mothers and is emblematic of United Way's increasing focus on children.

        At noon today, the 2001 United Way campaign kicks off with games, music and free refreshments on Fountain Square.

        Campaign chairman John Barrett is the president and chief executive officer of Western-Southern Life Insurance Co. He remained mum Wednesday about this year's campaign goal but vowed that United Way, which raises money for 160-plus agencies, will seek more than the $60 million raised last year.

        In its last five campaigns, United Way has sought 2 to 8 percent more than the amount raised the previous year. In those same five years, United Way has gone from targeting 20.6 percent of its annual campaign money to children's agencies to 27.6 percent.

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