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History In
1928 community leaders decided to form an organization —
Community Chest — that would raise and distribute funds
for needed services in Fort Smith. And over the years,
people have donated more than $52,975,000 to support
health and human services within our area.
Originally there were 13 local charities—Welfare
Association, Boy Scouts, Rosalie Tilles Home, Playground
Association, Salvation Army, Y.W.C.A., Boy Rangers,
Carnegie Library, Negro Welfare, Traveler’s Aid, Sparks
Memorial and St. Edward Mercy Hospitals and Boys
Club—that received funds. The campaign (which ran from
May 7-12) raised $54,946 under the leadership of
Community Chest President Marshall Yantis.
Joining Yantis in 1928 was a “Committee of 21” with
officers—George Carney, First Vice President,; H. Frank
Goodnow, Second Vice President, and Louis Cohen,
Secretary/Treasurer; and members — J. W. Ramsey, Cecil
Warner, E. E. Weldon, W. H. Johnson, Allan Kennedy,
Walter Hinton, C. F. Burns, H. J. Miller, M. J. Miller,
A. Y. Berry, J. L. Swofford, Allen Henderson, Dr. M. E.
Foster, W. T. Oglesby, I. H. Nakdimen, W. G. Shipley,
Jack Adams and Rev. Wallace R. Bacon.
Air show launches United Fund
The Community Chest became the United Fund in the fall
of 1962 under the leadership of Don Flanders. The United
Fund included most or all of the individual campaigns
previously made. The 1962 campaign had quite a kick-off
with the Air Force “Thunderbirds”.
City National Bank (now BanCorp South) was the first to
report a 100 percent employee participation with a total
pledge of $3,629, with an employee average of $24 per
person.
Name evolves to United Way
In 1977, Fort Smith started its annual United Way
campaign with a raft race down the Arkansas River. Randy
Ney, Campaign Chairman, set a goal of $600,000 to
support the 20 agencies.
Service area expands
Originally there were 13 agencies with the number
fluctuating over the years. Last year, the number
expanded to 29 with the addition of two agencies—The
Fountain of Youth and the Boy and Girls Club of South
Logan County.
In 1986, the admission of the South Sebastian County
Youth Organization was accepted as an agency. This was
considered a “bold effort.” by the United Way board—the
first agency accepted outside Van Buren and Fort Smith.
In 2002, a campaign associate was hired to expand
participation in the six counties the United Way serves—
Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian in Arkansas and
LeFlore and Sequoyah in Oklahoma
New facility provides room
In 1988, with W.K. McGehee, Jr., as president, the
United Way held an open house at a new location, 320
South 18th. Still serving as the United Way Service
Center, the building was bought and remodeled with
private endowments, without one dime coming from any
campaign dollars.
In 2001, Beverly Enterprises donated partition walls and
workstations to upgrade and improve four office spaces.
Community Impact
At United Way of Fort Smith Area, we believe that
working together is the best way to measurably improve
people’s lives in our six-county area. With your
financial investment, you become a vital part of the
United Way effort and have the greatest impact on
improving lives by creating long-term and lasting change
in conditions such as early childhood literacy,
kindergarten readiness and homelessness.
Volunteers make the difference
United Way could not be successful in its efforts to
help people in this area if it were not for the hard
work and dedication of committed volunteers.
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