The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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The annual United Way of the Flint Hills campaign will have added events and new approaches as agency leaders begin a new fundraising year.

The drive chairman will be Connie Cahoone of First Community Bank; the Pacesetter chairman will be Jeanell Tebbetts of CoreFirst Bank.

“Connie and I have talked and she really wants to do some fun and new things this year,” said U.W. Executive Director Duane Dreiling. “We know that this year is going to be a true challenge, so we’re going to change some, and really get the United Way out there before the public.”

The organization took a leading role this year in organizing its agencies, city government, school district, and other entities that came together to help workers who lost their jobs when Tyson eliminated its slaughter division here and one shift of its processing operation. Many of the agencies were involved in providing services through the displaced workers’ center, which was overseen by the United Way.

The agencies’ coming-together in a high profile way illustrated the importance of services that the United Way agencies provide.

“It’s not just about funding the agencies and fundraising, but doing what makes sense for people and trying to do the best we can for them,” Dreiling said.

United Way leaders are waiting to see how the Tyson closings and an uneasiness about the national economy will affect this year’s campaign.

Tebbetts has organized the initial event, the Pacesetter Kickoff, for Aug. 14 at 4 p.m. at Bruff’s Bar and Grill meeting room, 2640 West 18th Ave.

The 25 Pacesetter companies agree to conduct their campaigns among employees prior to the area-wide campaign, Dreiling said.

“They truly do set the pace for a successful campaign,” he said, “so we’re very grateful to those businesses that do that.”

On Sept. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m., the United Way campaign will begin officially, with an agency fair for the public at the Flint Hills Technical College. Agencies will set up information booths to provide more information about their services.

“It’s not just about the United Way, it’s about all those agencies that are providing services to the public,” he said. “Our hope is that by doing it this way, more of the general public can come out and find out what these agencies are all about.”

Drawings for door prizes will be held at the end of the agency fair, and Cahoone will announce the campaign goal for the year, Dreiling said.

The United Way will try a new method – the United Way Amazing Race Small Business Blitz -- this year to raise funds in the small-business arena, a one-day project on Sept. 24.

Twenty teams, each made up of one agency representative and one community member, will be given up to 15 packets to deliver to specified business owners throughout the day. They will begin at 9 a.m. with instruction and orientation before being sent out to canvass the community.

A tent will be set up on the vacant lot at Sixth Avenue and Mechanic Street, where teams will converge for grilled hot dogs and give status reports on their progress that morning. The Blitz will replace the old distribution method, when volunteers dropped off packets and talked to business owners, then returned two weeks later to pick up the collected funds.

“In the past I think we’ve bothered a lot of businesses,” Dreiling said.

Team members will meet at 4 p.m. in Bruff’s meeting room to tally the collections and award trophies for a variety of competitions that are planned.