As excitement grows for the United Way of Elizabethton-Carter County (UWECC), the group officially announced their next step for the 2016-17 year.
Josh McKinney, Community Involvement Director for the organization, announced Friday that the UWECC named Corey Paulson the campaign chair for this year.
“Corey is a huge win for us this year,” McKinney said. “He’s more than a strong voice in the community. He’s proven himself as a driving force behind the great support we get from Sycamore Shoals, and there’s no questioning his commitment to United Way’s work. He wouldn’t say this, but if we have a great campaign this year, it’s going to be in large part because of his efforts.”
During his time with Mountain State Health Alliance, Paulson has been busy working within the community during his time working at Sycamore Shoals Hospital.
The opportunity to continue serving the county was hard to pass up, Paulson said.
“I am honored to have been asked to be the chair this year,” he added. “I am very excited about this opportunity to raise awareness and support for these great agencies through the United Way.”
“My vision is to go beyond just raising money for these agencies,” he continued. “But also to raise awareness about the wonderful work that they do and the people they serve. I believe Elizabethton and Carter County can truly be a community united and I hope we can get closer to that through this year’s campaign.”
The fundraising year got off to an unofficial start during the month of July as the UWECC welcomed in local agencies for a get-together to announce the goals for the year.
During the meeting, McKinney announced that this year’s fundraising goal is at $125,000.
“We’ve made real progress in the past few months,” he said. “We are past $20,000 raised for the 16-17 campaign, and we are trying new strategies to find greater success than we’ve had in the past few years. We’ve got great leaders behind us, like Corey, and now it’s time to turn to the community and ask them to buy in to our new vision.
The current organizations working with the UWECC include: Adult Day Services, American Red Cross, Assistance & Resources Ministries (A.R.M.), the Boys and Girls Club of Elizabethton-Carter County, Carter County Neighborhood Service Center, Contact Ministries, Elizabethton Senior Center, Personal Support Services, and Boy Scouts – Sequoyah Council.
The UWECC will host their official campaign kickoff event on Thursday, Sept. 15, at noon inside the Community Room at Medical Care, PLLC in Elizabethton. Medical Care, PLLC is located at 1500 East Elk Ave.
McKinney added the group will have campaign kits available to give out to anyone who wants to take one back to their place of employment to launch a workforce campaign. Along with the kits, the director added that UWECC will take sign-ups for anyone wanting to attend free Workplace Campaign Coordinator training.
“These events will help equip our workplace champions with the tools and ideas that they need to get the most support from their fellow coworkers,” McKinney said.
For more information on the event, contact the director at director@uwayecc.org or call (423) 543-6975.