In tough economic times, contributions to the United Way of Lowndes County have been down, but the organization — in its 55th year — was able to distribute about $310,000 to the agencies it serves.
The fundraising goal for the United Way has been $600,000 for the last few years, but the goal wasn”t met this year, due to weather-related disasters and economic downturns, said Executive Director Jan Ballard, noting the United Way allocations committee worked with a budget of about $210,000 and was forced to use reserve funds for allocations to agencies served by the United Way of Lowndes County.
“But we did have some very good campaigns with many of the businesses and industries enabling us to allocate funds at the level we did this year,” she added.
“We”re no different than any other organization,” said Jim Wilson, the outgoing president of the United Way of Lowndes County Executive Committee. “When we have a downturn in our economy, we see a downturn in contributions. This year, we were unable to level-fund (our agencies), but we”re hopeful as the economy rebounds, so will our contributions. These funds are important to a lot of people.”
During its annual luncheon Thursday, the United Way of Lowndes County recognized several individuals and businesses for their contributions to the community.
Pinnacle awards
Receiving the Pinnacle Award for contributions of $10,000 and more were the Columbus Municipal School District, Omnova Solutions Inc., Weyerhaeuser Columbus Cellulose Fiber, Holcim Inc., Cadence Bank, Ceco Building Systems, Domtar, Paccar, Severstal, Microtek Medical (Ecolab), Trustmark National Bank and Belk.
Excellence awards
Receiving the Excellence Award for contributions between $5,000 and $9,999 were 4-County Electric Power Association, T.E. Lott and Co., Mississippi University for Women, Weyerhaeuser Columbus Modified Fiber, the Lowndes County School District, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, Burkhalter Rigging, Regions Bank and The Commercial Dispatch.
Community Matters awards
Receiving the Community Matters Award for contributions of between $1,000 and $4,999 were Brunini, Grantham, Grower and Hewes, PLLC, city of Columbus employees, Lowndes County employees, BancorpSouth, Mitchell, McNutt and Sams, P.A., J.C. Penney No. 1829, Galloway-Chandler-McKinney Insurance, Columbus Air Force Base, Citizens National Bank, Recovery House, Wal-Mart No. 495, Atmos Energy, Ellisville State Schools Community Programs, Nammo Talley and Rhett Real Estate.
Community Spirit awards
Community Spirit awards, for contributions between $100 and $999, went to the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA, American Eurocopter, the Greater Columbus Learning Center, Lowndes County RSVP, The CPI Group Inc., JoAnn Ferguson Marketing, BankTEL, Century 21 Doris Hardy and Associates, Link”d, Girl Scouts Heart of the South, 4-H Clubs of Lowndes County, Contact Helpline, Dia-A-Bus and Home Delivered Meals.
Advocate awards
The Commercial Dispatch, WCBI-TV, University Management, CableOne, Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and Mississippi Radio Group — Sunny 93.3 FM — received Advocate Awards.
Service awards
Service awards were presented to retiring board members Dr. Alma Turner, regional director of ICS Head Start Golden Triangle, Dr. Claudia Limbert, MUW president, Nick Ardillo, Sandra Stone and Yvonne Sanders, of the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Service awards also were presented to James Boyd, a Holcim plant manager who also is a past United Way board member, and to Charlie Box, who recently retired as director of the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA.
J.C. Penney Manager Mike Law received an award as campaign CEO of the year and Sue Tucker, who has conducted the CECO Building Systems Inc. United Way campaign for several years, was honored as the campaign coordinator of the year.
President”s Choice
Additionally, Lynn Atkins, who served as the allocations committee chairperson and now will serve as the second vice president on the United Way of Lowndes County 2009-2010 Executive Committee, was presented with the President”s Choice Award.
United Way agencies
The United Way of Lowndes County serves various local agencies, including the Boys and Girls Club, 4-H Clubs of Lowndes County, The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, Contact Helpline, Helping Hands, Dial-A-Bus, the Frank P. Phillips Memorial YMCA, Home Delivered Meals and others.
In 2008, “17,000 lives were touched” by the United Way of Lowndes County “network of care,” said Dennis Erby, the incoming president of the 2009 executive committee. “Despite the economy, we”ve had some very bright moments.”
“Although we have already experienced some shrinkage in employee contributions due to the economy, we are hopeful for our community that the economy will begin an upward swing and the amount of shrinkage we built in for 2009 pledge collections proves to be high by the end of the year,” Ballard later said. “We know it would be helpful to our agencies if we were able to provide smaller, additional grants later in the year, as we have in the past.
“United Way volunteers spoke with agency representatives about letting us know if they have any critical needs during the year, at which time our volunteers would consider accessing additional reserves to address the most urgent needs.”
To contribute to the United Way of Lowndes County or for more information, call 662-328-0943.
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