United Way exists to create conditions to help people live their best possible lives. You might be surprised to learn that more than a $1 million is contributed to United Way of Greater St. Louis annually by individual leaders at other health and human services organizations right here in our region.
After the initial shock of this – shock because these charities have their own powerful missions, shock because these charities themselves are, too, scraping to raise needed funds to help people – you might think the employees only give because United Way supports them.
But a million dollars? That’s a lot of support. Not to mention that about 40 agencies that run United Way campaigns are not United Way member agencies.
This speaks to the power of collaboration and the belief among many that if we are going to move the needle on poverty, if we are going to create new pathways to opportunity or ensure that a strong fabric of helping is in place, we have to have a common table.
This table must be inclusive of diverse interests and regional in scope, and United Way is that common table. In an era of decreased resources and increased needs, we have to rethink how we tackle issues. Going it alone, history tells us, is less optimal than shared ownership, shared vision and collective action.
I am looking forward to working with all of our partner agencies, other key health, religious, academic, and economic development institutions in the region and our nearly 200,000 individual and institutional investors to change the discussion of how we help people live their best possible life in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.
Thanks for supporting this year’s United Way campaign. It is not too late. Simply put, you are changing lives.
The United Way’s 2013 fundraising campaign runs through November 6. To give, contact 314-421-0700 or visit www.stl.unitedway.org.
Kimbrough is president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
