The St. Louis region gave more than $1.4 million to the annual 100 Neediest Cases campaign, the highest amount yet in the 91-year tradition of helping the area’s poorest.

Of the 100 cases highlighted in the Post-Dispatch during the recent holiday season, all were adopted, as well as 737 other cases that were part of the campaign.

Vanessa Wayne, director of the 100 Neediest Cases campaign, a collaboration of the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the Post-Dispatch, said the generosity of the region continues to exceed expectations.

“There are thousands of stories of how lives have been touched through this program,” Wayne said.

“A young working mother was able to purchase a crib and other necessities for her new child. A grandmother on a fixed income raising the children of her late daughter gave her grandchildren gifts for Christmas, which they wouldn’t have otherwise received.”

More than 70 agencies who work closely with the poor selected 13,127 cases for the 2013 campaign. Those cases represented 27,450 people from 231 ZIP codes and 191 municipalities.

All cases not adopted received a monetary donation from the $1,425,381 in cash contributions.