United Way – why I volunteer time and money…..
Posted August 19th, 2008 by adminBy Betty Sims, United Way Impact Council Member
I retired from Micron Technology several years ago and began casting about for an interesting and meaningful volunteer activity. While my husband and I had both been United Way contributors during our work lives, the organization dropped off the radar screen when we retired, and I simply followed up on an item in the newspaper about their need for volunteers.
In short order I was introduced to the staff, the mission and their style of doing business and was immediately impressed with the quality of professionalism and commitment of the staff, but of equal importance their ability to live “frugally”. I learned a critical piece of information: their administrative costs are covered by separate donations, so that every dollar contributed during their annual campaign goes directly to agencies and people who need it. This looked like an organization I wanted to give time and money to.
I became part of the team of volunteers whose task is to visit the agencies which have applied for funds, sort through all of the requests and finally recommend how campaign contributions are to be distributed. Now I began to see the hard part – not enough money for all the worthwhile requests. Once again, I was impressed with the leadership of United Way’s staff, committed to helping those in crisis, but ultimately working with the community to find lasting solutions.
