Once again, the Warren County community outdid itself.

The 11th annual Warren Gives raised a record amount approaching $800,000.

The unofficial total from 9:15 p.m. Wednesday was $779,872.

The online donations were easily tabulated, but there were other donations that would have to officially rounded up before a final amount could be released.

“We’re hoping we can break $800,000,” Community Foundation of Warren County Executive Director Rob Kaemmerer said.

That topped the 2022 total of $732,229 by almost $50,000, according to Kaemmerer.

There was some doubt that the 2022 event would break the previous record, but the 2023 version topped the mark well before the 10 p.m. deadline. “We’ve never seen the kind of enthusiasm we’ve seen tonight,” Kaemmerer said. “These were numbers raised early in the evening.”

“There isn’t a record we didn’t break today,” he said. “We have 43 states – that includes Alaska and Hawaii. It’s amazing.”

The previous record was set at 42 last year.

The pool of matching funds – $65,000 given out in the same ratio as donations – was also the largest yet.

Calvert-Pearson Insurance Group was a new donor of matching funds, joining the Betts Foundation, the Community Foundation, Crossett, the DeFrees Family Memorial Fund, Ellwood, the McComas Charitable Fund, the Northwest Charitable Foundation, the Sara Sokolski Memorial Fund, Superior Tire and Rubber Corp., and United Refining Company.

At about 8:30 p.m., the event reached a milestone.

The donation by Carl and Sally Asbury of Youngsville took the Warren Gives 11-year total over the $5 million mark, Kaemmerer said.

“Miracle Mountain Ranch appears to be the leading organization for raising money,” Kaemmerer said. “Followed closely by the Library Theatre.”

Rounding out the top four were the Cornplanter Council of BSA and the Warren Public Library.

There were four new charitable organizations on the list this year.

“Of the four new ones, Kinzua Wrestling Club has been amazing,” Kaemmerer said. “They have raised almost $12,000 in their first year.”

The Allegheny Valley Veterans Center raised about $6,000. The other new organizations were the Warren Sports Boosters and the Sheffield Community Fund.

“It went smoothly,” Kaemmerer said. “Mark King did an amazing job as chairman.”

The event reflects on the generosity of the community, Kaemmerer said. “It just reflects the most amazing people.”

“Not only did the community respond, but they reached out to people all over the country to participate,” he said. “The organizations themselves did an amazing job in advertising within their members and support systems.”

‘It was an incredible effort on everyone’s part,” he said. “It’s going to make it that much tougher to break the record again next year.”