The Business of
Farm Life
Reimagined
The Business of
Building
Shelters
Giving
Back
Medicine
Redefined
From left, Gary Lee Ashcraft, President/CEO of Nacogdoches United Way, Alease Copelin, Deborah Chadwick, Jheri-Lynn McSwain, Debbra Johnson, Sandra Davis and Mayor David Chadwick.
Giving Back – The United Way impacts lives in Shelby County
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE ELSWICK | SUBMITTED PHOTOS
T
he United Way has had minimal
exposure in Shelby County over
the years, but Gary Ashcraft
hopes to see that change in coming
months.
Shelby County falls under the
Nacogdoches Area United Way, which
serves Shelby, San Augustine and
Nacogdoches counties. Ashcraft serves as
president of the organization which was
formed in 1952.
“There’s a lot of need in Shelby County
but there’s also a lot of potential,” he says.
While the local United Way has
marketing and other support from the
national United Way organization based
in Alexandria, Virginia, the Nacogdoches
organization does not report to the national
34 Business MATTERS | 2020 Spring Edition
United Way, Ashcraft says. Instead, it
operates as a separate entity with its own
local board of directors, local volunteers
and donors.
“We’re local, 99 cents out of every
dollar raised here stays here,” he says. That
applies to funds raised in Shelby County
stays in Shelby County. Unfortunately, the
United Way way of giving in the county has
been minimal, Ashcraft says.
In Shelby County the main corporate
business partner has been the Hallmark
Fixture plant in Center. Ashcraft said the
management and staff at Hallmark have
been terrific in supporting United Way
and in giving back to local Shelby County
nonprofit entities.
He hopes the support, enthusiasm and