For 88 years, the United Way has been dedicated to providing communities assistance in learning, family, wellness and basic needs, said Laura Gilliam, executive director of the United Way of the River Cities (UWRC).
Gilliam spoke Thursday at a Marshall University luncheon in the John Marshall room where one hundred people attended.
The Student Government Association (SGA) and the Faculty Senate contacted Gilliam to educate Marshall students about the organization. Gilliam’s speech focused on the UWRC and the organization’s mission to “live united.”
“People know the United Way name and the logo but they aren’t always sure about what exactly we do,” Gilliam said.
The organization has many various events year round like the West Virginia 5K Walk and “Out on the Town” fundraiser in September that local businesses donated a portion of their proceeds from the busy Friends of Coal Bowl weekend, said Gilliam.
The United Way started in 1922 and since then the goals and approach to community success has changed.
“Instead of trying to help people already in a bad situation, we want to be on the preventive side,” said Gilliam.
Gilliam also said the formula has changed from the United Way raising money, administering it and giving it back to addressing the root of the problem and fixing it.
The UWRC serves Mason, Cabell, Lincoln and Wayne counties of West Virginia as well as Lawrence County, Ohio.
Partnered with 30 other charities and organizations, the UWRC is focused on two main issues in Huntington; obesity and substance abuse, said Gilliam.
Gilliam said, each year the UWRC raises about one million dollars through donations and fundraisers that is then distributed throughout the community.
Gilliam also said the UWRC fundraising goal for 2010 is 1.25 million, which is five hundred thousand dollars less than it was in 2009.
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