The occasion was a “Community Unity” event sponsored by the United Way of Gordon County, and Executive Director Vickie Spence took the opportunity to collar those who dropped by and make her pitch about the importance of this year’s drive, which has a goal of $525,000. Spence said that this year’s need, given the layoffs that many area manufacturers have announced, is critical.
“If the story in Wednesday’s Calhoun Times that 10 percent of the students in our schools are considered homeless did not get the attention of people in this county, nothing will,” Spence told me as the crowd began to build.
While Spence said the early United Way campaign has had a lot of success among Gordon County’s larger employers, Thursday’s event was designed to get downtown business owners and their employees “fired up” about this year’s campaign.
“Our agencies are living really lean right now,” Spence said. “Last year, the Voluntary Action Center provided food assistance to 650 families in September. This September, they helped more than 900 families, so the need is growing.”
Georgia’s budget woes are hurting other agencies. The Family Resource Center, one of this community’s first lines of defense against child abuse, lost its state funding and had to eliminate a staff position.
“Everyone has been hit by the economy in one way or another,” Spence said. “I can’t tell you the number of people who call me everyday and say they have never been in this situation before and don’t know where to turn.”
In many cases, the first place local folks go is to one of the United Way agencies that work with folks in need.
The good news is that the United Way did not cut the allocations to any of the 19 local agencies that it serves. That, Spence said, is why reaching this year’s campaign goal is so important.
Part of the United Way’s dilemma this year is making up the shortfall caused by layoffs across the county.
“Pledges go south in a hurry when layoffs are announced,” said Wayne Minshew, director of the Council for a Literate Community, a United Way Agency that helps fund adult education programs.
In a difficult fund-raising environment, Spence said it is important for people to know that close to 99 percent of what is raised locally stays in the county.
About 1 percent goes to the national United Way, but affiliation with the national organization is critical for the continued participation of many of the national firms that operate in Gordon County, Spence said.
Spence said she is encouraged by the support from the local business and financial community and is working to get new industry groups involved.
The Thurston’s event was more about community awareness than fund raising, and the United Way of Gordon County wants everyone in the community to know how it is trying to meet a growing need.
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