The Barry County United Way will kick-off the 83rd campaign on September 12th, 8am at the Barry County Expo Center. This year’s theme “Where there’s a You, There’s a Way” speaks directly to the heart of how donor dollars change lives in our community. Last year, over 60,000 times residents of our community accessed programs and services funded by donor contributions.
Campaign Co-Chairs Jim DeCamp and Bill Rohr are challenging residents to become a partner with United Way. “Your investment goes so much further with Barry County United Way. 100% of the contributions are utilized for programming right here in Barry County, thanks to the Florence Tyden Groos Endowment Fund that covers administrative costs,” says campaign co-chair Bill Rohr. “This year our goal is $650,000 based on the needs of the programs and services that request funds through Barry County United Way,” states campaign co-chair Jim DeCamp.
Thirty four programs rely on the support of the United Way campaign in Barry County.
Right after the kickoff, over 400 volunteers will join forces to volunteer on a variety of both indoor and outdoor opportunities. Indoor events include archiving at Gilmore Car Museum, office cleaning at Hope Network, sorting clothes for the changing seasons at the Shack in Delton and playing BINGO with the residents at Thornapple Manor. Outdoor activities include cleaning up the Riverwalk Trail in Hastings and the Paul Henry Trail in Middleville, playground painting at Central Elementary, building a therapeutic horse shelter at Camp Manitou-Lin, gardening at Charlton Park to create shoreline garden, and sanding and sealing a wooden ship in Freeport. We are still in need of more volunteers for both Thursday and Saturday projects. If you are interested in helping, please call Morgan at the Volunteer Center, 945-4010 “It is great to witness how eager our community is to volunteer at so many organizations”, says Morgan Johnson, Volunteer Center Director. “According to the Independent Sector each volunteer hour is worth $25.43, therefore the hours put in by these volunteers is equal to over $40,000 to our community. Day of Caring will take place on Thursday, September 12th and Saturday, September 14th. Thornapple Valley Church has combined their Blitz Day with United Way to show the value of partnerships throughout the community. “This enables us to partner with many individuals and families that are not available during the work week”, says Johnson.
