America has always been a nation that not only tried to help out those in difficulty but also worked together to make this country a better place to live. That’s what United Way is all about.
– John Glenn Jr., US Senator, and former NASA astronaut
Wow 1999! Party like it’s…thanks Prince. It was a big year here at United Way then. We did our first youth assets survey with the Search Institute, a precursor to the Big Idea, years later. It’s an institute focused on the 40 developmental assets and knew even then if a kid had a basketball, it was an asset. Now we know if you have someone to shoot hoops with, it’s an even bigger asset. Karen Bartalini was our board president. Karen held virtually every role in the United Way before she completed three six-year terms including two gap years. In 1999, Kerry Shroy was our campaign chair and taught us all how to “open our hearts” which was our campaign theme.
I learned about fossils that year and interestingly at a DHS meeting. Why fossils? Well, here’s why:
They’ve been around hundreds of years.
They’re tangible.
You can hold them in your hand.
They stand the test of time.
They’re most abundant after storms.
See that’s why fossils. They’re like us. The first United Way was founded in 1887! We’ve been around locally for almost 70 years (January 2027); we’ve stood the test of time. And we are very present, especially after storms.
John Glenn knew about United Way and this year’s Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover said, “This shows what we can do not just when we put our difference aside, but when put our differences together.”
We still have much to learn and can always bring our differences together to keep mobilizing to affect change. Onward.
