It really has been a hard last five months for our community since the Nippon Dynawave disaster on May 26th, which killed 11 workers in Longview.

There has been a lot of coming together, and yesterday the United Way of Cowlitz & Wahkiakum Counties announced they have now raised over $350,000 for the Nippon Family Fund.

Yesterday, United Way Executive Director Lois Smith said they, the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, and the Longshoremen’s Credit Union came together to present their fifth ceremonial check for money raised.

The fundraising has still been steady for the United Way. Smith says $40,617 was raised in October, bringing their total raised since June to $351,948.