You can pack a lot into 50 years , especially when it comes to helping the community .
This year marks the 50th anniversary for United Way of South Central Kentucky , an organization that takes on a lot of the fundraising logistics for its partner nonprofits .
Today , the local United Way serves 25 agencies within the 10 counties of the Lake Cumberland district , according to executive director Crystal Cox .
But in the early days of the program – then simply a United Way chapter that served only Pulaski County – it was harder to bring other organizations on board . In a writeup of the chapter ’ s history , John J . Tohill admitted that the people putting it together naively thought local charities would immediately jump on board .
Tohill , who was the president of United Way in 1973-1974 , wrote that the idea to begin a United Way in Pulaski was born from having the same volunteers working for most of the area ’ s charities , and seeing many of the same faces at each of those charities ’ fundraisers .
“ Many of us decided there just had to be a better way , and we had numerous meetings over the course of several years to try to establish some united effort that would eliminate duplication of effort ,” he wrote .
“ An added inducement to finding a better way was our realization that our contacts were limited . We could contact bank presidents , corporation managers , owner / managers of smaller businesses etc ., but about the only means we had of contacting their employees was through door to door canvassing , which was not all that productive . No plant manager or business owner could possibly allow the many charitable organizations to each approach employees while on the job , and we were adding more and more employees to our plants all the time ,” he wrote .
The solution was an umbrella fundraising organization , and a group submitted an application for a state charter for United Way . While Tohill said that not everyone involved in that success could be named , he did write that himself , Dr . Richard Weddle and Glen Neikirk signed the first application as officers ,
with Weddle serving as the first president . This happened in 1972 .
“ In our original conception of a United Way , we , in our naivete , assumed that we could expect to include all or most of the major charitable organizations in our community ,” Tohill wrote . “ Contacts were made with the local representatives of all of these organizations , resulting in very cooperative responses .”
However , the group hit a snag when it also attempted to create a contract for a Combined Federal Campaign ( CFC ), required to be able to have federal employees contribute to charity via payroll withholding .
A “ Mr . Tucker ” ( no first name given ) “ appeared skeptical concerning our
Crystal Cox , the most recent executive director for the 50-year-old United Way of South Central Kentucky , stands outside of the organization ’ s new headquarters on West Mount Vernon Street .
Photo by Carla Slavey
ability to get either the United Way or a CFC off the ground . His first question was , ‘ How many agencies do you have signed up for your United Way ?’ When he perused our list he at once pointed out that we were in error in listing the Pulaski Chapters of the Heart and Cancer agencies , which he informed us would not , as a matter of policy , participate with us .”
Tucker , it turned out , was also the chairman of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Cancer Society . And pretty much said “ No way ” when it came to participating with United Way .
Sure enough , other agencies soon withdrew from participating .
Still , the United Way managed to grow and raise money for the 11 or so starting partners , some of which are still partnered with the United Way today , Cox points out .
Those include the American Red Cross , the local chapters of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and what used to be known as the Kidney Foundation , now called the Kidney Health Alliance of Kentucky .
Tohill ’ s history continues to describe the creation of the local United Way .
“ We experienced additional birthing pains those early years ,” Tohill wrote . “ We arbitrarily established our goal that first campaign year of 1972 at $ 100,000 and raised some $ 71,000 .”
By 1976 , the organization ’ s name officially changed to Untied Way of South Central Kentucky .
Over the years , the United Way has found some inventive ways to both raise money and keep the community engaged . Those of a certain age will remember the large thermometers that were put up on the Fountain Square , a visual reminder of how close the group was to reaching its yearly goal .
“ It ’ s been a community initiative and a community effort from the very beginning ,” Cox said as she pointed to a group of boxes that held years and years of photos , newspaper clippings and keepsakes . “ It ’ s kind of neat looking back through these pictures .”
Someone , it seems , kept meticulous records of the United Way ’ s activities throughout the years , not just local stories , but of national interest as well . One of the scrapbooks holds a typewritten page explaining how in 1987 the U . S . Postal Service issued a United Way stamp as part of a series of 20 stamps to commemorate and “ salute America ’ s proud heritage .”
For more recent history , the United Way of South Central Kentucky has
June 2022 SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky • 17