United Way of the River Cities

For 88 years, the United Way has been dedicated to providing communities assistance in learning, family, wellness and basic needs.

The organization has many various events year round like the West Virginia 5K Walk and “Out on the Town” fundraiser that local businesses donated a portion of their proceeds from the busy Friends of Coal Bowl weekend.

Laura Gilliam, executive director, and Cassey Bowden, director of resource development and marketing for the United Way of the River Cities, were contacted by Professor Burnis Morris to educate his News Writing 201 class about the organization and their 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 United Way started in 1922 and since then the goals and approach to community success has changed.

Bowden said on Tuesday that fifteen years ago they looked at the community and fundraisers as not as effective and decided to change their approach.

“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 thirty other charities and organizations, the United Way is focused on two main issues in Huntington; obesity and substance abuse.

Each year, the United Way raises around one million dollars through donations and fundraisers that is then distributed throughout the community.

Bowden said this year the fundraising goal for 2010 is 1.25 million dollars, which is five hundred thousand dollars less than it was in 2009.

Classmate Interview

In my first news article, I made some minor mistakes in my final draft. In my opinion, the worst mistake I made was using the dictionary to define "occupation." It does show that I am not a professional writer. The next big mistake I made was being too wordy in some parts of my story. I should've caught these errors. Another mistake I made was I did not wrap up the ending of my story. I ended my story with what Katie's favorite occupation was. I should have further explained why I thought her answer was so interesting.

WVU rents Marshall's Rec Center?

Rumors spread today that West Virginia University had rented Marshall University's Rec Center as a meeting place for WVU fans before the game on September 10. Many students in class called athletic directors and other various potential leads to try to get to the bottom of this rumor. No one could get a straight answer as to what was going on. Although the recreation center's website explained the center was going to close early that day for the game, it did not say it was for those purposes. It would not surprise me if Huntington let WVU rent the rec center because Huntington will do anything for some extra cash. It would also add to the hype of the highly anticipated Friends of Coal Bowl. In my opinion, we don't need anymore drama or hype added to this game- there is definitely enough already!

Furyk Oversleeps

Jim Furyk over slept Tuesday night, causing him to be disqualified for the tournament. The reason for this? His cellphone was not charged and died, causing his alarm to not go off. He missed his tee time and was not allowed to make it up. I do feel bad that he overslept and therefore was disqualified. But I mean, rules are rules and if someone breaks the rule he or she should accept the consequences. Furyk handled the situation with class and accepted the responsibility of being late. It is sad he was disqualified, but they have to make an example of him to other golfers because if not, everyone would know they could get by with being late.