The 2012 campaign for United Way of West Central Mississippi got under way Tuesday morning as Pacesetters, volunteers and member agencies met for their kick-off breakfast at the B.B. Club with a goal of $1.48 million in mind.

In addition to eating eggs and bacon, the group sang a rendition of the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which doubles as their fundraising theme this year.

“The theme says it all,” said Amy Haygood, vice president of Trustmark Bank who is leading the charge for the campaign this year. “We’re going to get to the top of that mountain, there’s opportunity everywhere.”

The Pacesetters is a group of representatives of 18 local businesses that will jump-start the fundraising before the regular campaign begins. In 2011, 16 Pacesetter businesses raised $544,898, or 39 percent, of the campaign’s $1.4 million goal.

“These are people who believe in what we do at United Way,” Executive Director Barbara Tolliver said.

“That room was full of energy and a lot of smiles,” she said after the event.

At the breakfast, Vicksburg resident Taylor Powell spoke to the group about her personal experience with United Way during the historic 2011 Mississippi River Flood that displaced more than 3,200 people.

“The flood split up my family in a matter of days, and we were alone and scared,” Powell said. “But that’s when we found new family members in United Way.”

Powell thanked the volunteers, calling them “angels who walk on Earth.”

“Right now it’s tough with the economy, but that’s when some people really begin to step up,” Haygood said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The Pacesetter campaign will run through Aug. 28, and the official campaign will begin Aug. 31 with an event at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center.

United Way of West Central Mississippi supports 23 member agencies and provides assistance to people in Warren, Claiborne, Yazoo, Sharkey and Isaquena counties and Madison Parish in Louisiana.