United Way workers attend 2024 Regional Campaign Kickoff event

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL) — Staff from several regional United Way non-profit branches gathered on Tuesday to kick off the organization’s annual fundraising campaign.

Workers from the United Ways of Kingsport , Bristol TN/VA, Greene County , the East Tenn. Highland s and Hawkins County all gathered at Grace Meadows Farm in Jonesborough for the event. A news release from United Way said this year’s theme is “United We Thrive.”

News Channel 11’s Sara Diamond served as the emcee for the kickoff. Leslie Dalton, CEO of the United Way of the East Tennessee Highlands, said six total United Way groups in the region serve area residents in need of a hand.

“We’re individualized in the communities,” she said. “That’s why you have six representing the region because our communities have different needs, they have different non-profits that meet those needs, and so we want to make sure that we’re specifically meeting the needs of that community.”

Dalton said the collective goal for this year’s United Way campaign is to raise $5.5 million, which will all be used to provide outreach and resources to local families.

“Our collective goal is $5.5 million, that’s six United Ways in Northeast Tennessee. Our local goal is a million [for East Tenn. Highlands branch], and so if we can hit the $5.5 million that we did last year, we’ll be able to serve 175,000 people in our community.”

Dalton noted that most people aren’t able to live comfortably with the state of the economy and other factors, so help from non-profits is vital to our communities.

“Especially with the economy and things, a lot of people are just surviving, and we don’t feel like that’s fair. We want everybody to have that opportunity to thrive, and so we do that through programs supported by United Way.”

The local United Ways run on donations and volunteer time. They provide funding and numerous resources to other non-profit programs with boots on the ground in local communities.

“So if somebody wants to help with that, and really give to the community in a holistic way in multiple areas, not just one single area, they can give to the United Way; they can get involved with their business or they can get involved as an individual– whatever works best for them,” Dalton said.

For more information on how to donate or get involved with your local United Way organization, visit UnitedWay.org .

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