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Campaign
time is quickly approaching and
United Way has been busy recruiting volunteers
and organizing campaign materials. For the 2008-2009 campaign, the overall
volunteer structure will look a little different from previous years. This
year, United Way
has recruited the help of 15 Senior Loaned Executives to organize teams of
volunteers. The Senior LE's will recruit teams of four to six loaned
executives who will contact businesses and organizations for the campaign.
The Senior LE's will serve as the liaison between United Way and the LEs,
providing support to them as they make contact with their accounts.
"This new
campaign structure will help both our volunteers as well as the United Way
staff by streamlining the overall process," said Brittany Litchford,
Resource Development Director for Crawford and Sebastian counties. "We look
forward to working with the Senior Loaned Executives and each of their teams
in the upcoming campaign."
The 2008 -2009 Senior Loaned Executives are: Russell Apple, Dr.
Jo Alice Blondin, David Burton, Melissa Clubb, Carmon D'Amico, Amanda
Daniels, Philip Doss, Robert Herrera, Lance Lanier, Clay McKinney, Dr. Barry
Owen, Jaci Pitts, Scott Shortes, Rodney West and Scott Weston.
For information contact Brittany Litchford or Sarah Fowler at
782-1311.
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Sebastian County Disaster Recovery
Center Opens
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The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), The
Arkansas
Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) and the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) announce the opening of a
Disaster
Recovery
Center
on Friday, May 2, in Sebastian
County to serve those
affected by recent severe storms.
The Disaster
Recovery
Center is located at the Fort Smith Event Center,
12 N. 11th St., Fort Smith, AR.
It will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 2 through May 31, Monday through
Saturday.
Disaster victims are urged to register for assistance before visiting the Disaster Recovery Center
by logging on to www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY
1-800-462-7585. Phone lines are open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through
Saturday. Representatives from FEMA, ADEM and SBA are available to
provide recovery information.
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Thanks to Day of Caring volunteers
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 On
Thursday, April 17, the United
Way
of Fort Smith Area hosted its 15th Annual Day of Caring with a kick-off
breakfast at Golden Corral and outling locations. This community-wide event
gave individuals and company employees a chance to "adopt" volunteer
projects at non-profit organizations, cities and schools in Fort Smith and
surrounding areas. In addition to completing much needed work, volunteers
were able to see firsthand how their United Way contributions make an
impact on the community.
This year, United Way
scheduled more than 775 volunteers for over 60 projects. Booneville High School
conducted a city wide clean up with 321 high school students to help
beautify the community. On Saturday, April 19, 250 volunteers from Harvest
Time helped ARC of the River Valley with their Annual Fishing Derby at Carol Ann Cross
Park and also helped
at St. Scholastica. United Way of Fort Smith Area would like to thank all
the volunteers, Day of Caring coordinators and all the companies for making
this day a huge success.
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Upcoming events
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Dillard's Spring Cosmetic Scentsational Evening
Dillard's
is hosting its Spring Cosmetic Scentsational Evening benefiting United Way on
Friday, May 9 from 6 pm until 9 pm. Gift Cards for the event are $35 and
good toward any cosmetic or fragrance purchased that evening. Door prizes
include: Coach Handbag, Dinner Tickets for Mother's Day, Cosmetic/Fragrance
Baskets, and Gift Certificates. A portion of the gift card price will be
donated to United Way.
For more
information or to obtain a gift card, contact Angie Ruth at 782-1311 or
angie.ruth@unitedway.org.
Tickets may also be purchased at United Way, 320 South 18th St. Fort Smith.
 National
Association of Letter Carriers
Food Drive scheduled May 10
On Saturday,
May 10, letter carriers will be collecting nonperishable food donations
along their routes in Alma, Barling, Fort Smith, Greenwood, Hartford,
Huntington, Mountainburg and Van Buren.
The letter carrers will take the donations back to the post offices where
volunteers will distribute them to area food banks or pantries. It is the
annual "Stamp Out Hunger" drive conducted by the National Association of
Letter Carriers - the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Please place
a food donation by your mailbox on Saturday, May 10 before your mail is
delivered. Help us help our community.
Arvest Golf Tournament
 Arvest
will be hosting a golf tournament benefiting United Way on Friday, May 23 at Eagle
Crest Golf Course in Alma.
The format is a four-person scramble. The entry fee is $400 per team which
includes cart, driving range, goodie bag and lunch. Prizes will be awarded
to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams. Closest to the pin and long-drive
contests will also be held. Drawings will be held throughout the day and
prizes will be awarded for hole-in-ones and for a Par-3 poker game.
Registration deadline is May 19. To enter or for more information contact Chris Raible at 479-573-1260 or e-mail him at
craible@arvest.com
 Stuff the Bus set for July 25 and 25
United Way will once again collect school supplies to distribute to needy
children through area schools. Last year, more than 30,000 packages of
supplies were collected and distributed to more than 60 schools and agencies
in the area. The goal of the drive is to have the supplies available to the
children before the start of the school year.
If you
would like to volunteer for the event or collect supplies in your company,
please contact Nicki Babb, Director of Community Impact Initiatives and
Marketing at 782-1311.
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Young Leadership Group Educational Roundtable is June 10
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 The
Young Leadership Group is open to all individuals who are 45 years of age or
younger and who give $300 or more annually as an individual or as a couple
to United Way.
The financial commitment is down from $500 annually as the Young Leadership
Group hopes to expand its membership and create new opportunities for
community involvement. The group, which has been in existence since 2002,
contributed more than $83,000 to the 2007 campaign.
The next YLG Roundtable will be held on June 10th with special guest Susan
Grobmyer of Bank of the Ozarks. The lunch will begin at 11:30 and will take
place at Bank of the Ozarks located at 5401 Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith. All YLG
members are invited. Lunch will be provided.
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Distinctive Donors Pizza Party
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 On
April 9th,
United Way
hosted its annual Distinctive Donors Pizza Party at Whirlpool in Fort Smith.
Pizza and customized shirts were provided to employees identified as
Distinctive Donors by Whirlpool during their annual campaign.
Employees were mailed invitations and 31 employees were recognized as giving
at the leadership level. A noon lunch and a 6:45pm evening party were held
to accommodate different shifts.
In 2007, Whirlpool Corporation and employees contributed more than $200,000
to United Way.
"We appreciate all that Whirlpool does to support United Way. "We appreciate all that
Whirlpool does to support
United Way," says Brittany Litchford, Resource
Development Director, Crawford and Sebastian counties. "This is just
one way for us to say thank-you for their generosity."
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