The Carthage Area United Way’s 2009 fund drive enters its final weeks with more than half the group’s $310,000 goal raised.

United Way officials, representatives of the member groups and volunteer fund raisers gathered on Thursday for an update on what has been raised and what still needed to be raised.

Lora Phelps, chairwoman for the 2009 fund drive, said the committee planning the drive knew that raising money would be tough in a bad economy and they knew reaching their goal would be tough even though it is the same goal as last year, when the group fell just short.

“We know everybody is crunched this year, we’ve heard it from all the agencies, we hear it from our neighbors and our friends and our family,” Phelps said. “But we think it’s important to support the community and we thank you for your efforts.”

Darren Collier, United Way Board President, praised the volunteers’ efforts.

“It is a lofty goal and things are still pretty fragile in our economy,” Collier said. “But we have great numbers coming in and in my opinion, the awards banquet is Feb. 4 and noon and in my opinion the drive is right up until then.”