After a two week delay, the Wiregrass United Way will officially kick off its annual campaign on Thursday, September 30th. The campaign kickoff was originally scheduled for Tuesday, September 14th. However, the threat of Hurricane Ivan caused the postponement.
The campaign kickoff will be held at the National Peanut Festival fairgrounds in Dothan at 6:00 p.m. A donation of $5 per person is requested to cover expenses. The event will have a racing theme. Each year the special event committee utilizes a theme for the three main campaign events. This year there will be a race car on display and decorations will feature black and white checkered flags and miniature race cars.
Lauren Davis, News Anchor for WTVY News 4 will be the emcee for the program. Other volunteers will be included as a part of the program. The featured speaker will be John Gunn, Executive Director of the Hawk-Houston Boys and Girls Club. John is a product of the United Way system and shares his personal story of how the United Way has directly affected his life.
Entertaining will be both inspirational and exciting. The girls from the Southeast Alabama Youth Services girl’s home will present two dramatic interpretations. One will be to Josh Groban’s song, You Raise Me Up. This song is also used in this year’s United Way campaign video.
Although this event marks the official kickoff for the campaign, volunteers have already been extremely busy with campaign activities. More than seventy-five area businesses participated in the Pacesetter campaign. Each year numerous businesses agree to be Pacesetters and to conduct their campaign prior to the kickoff event. Most of these campaigns were concluded during the month of August. The total amount raised through these companies will be announced as a part of the campaign kickoff.
State Senator Harri Anne Smith is serving as chair for this year’s campaign. Numerous volunteers are already committed to assist Senator Smith with the campaign. These include county campaign chairs, division chairs, loaned executives and campaign coordinators within area companies. The five county campaign chairs are: Coffee County - Jeff Brannon, Dale County – Rep. Steve Clouse, Geneva County - David Snell, Henry County – Lester Killebrew and Houston County – Mike Schmitz.
The Wiregrass United Way has served the Wiregrass area since 1938, currently funding 36 member agencies serving Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties. Funds raised by Wiregrass United Way are utilized locally in the five county area. A committee of local volunteers determines how the funds are distributed among the member agencies. For more information call 792-9661.