United Way asking for community input in allocations process

Mar. 10—The United Way of Greater St. Joseph is seeking help from local volunteers to evaluate various partner agencies and determine where future donor dollars will go.

"Most people are familiar with the United Way from our annual fundraising campaign where from the generosity of the community, we've raised about two and a half million dollars," said Jodi Flurry, United Way director of community investment. "Which is amazing, but what a lot of people don't understand is what happens with that money. That's where the allocations process comes in, and community members can have a say."

Last year, United Way had around 150 community members volunteer and share their opinions on how the agency should invest in its partner agencies.

Volunteers will be divided into subcommittees, where they will review two or three of United Way's partner agencies, meet with the agencies and hear from them firsthand on how they are having an impact within the community.

United Way encourages the community to be a part of the volunteer process because it keeps the organization accountable back to its donors, which is critical to the functions of United Way, Flurry said.

"This is the community's money that they have donated to United Way so we need the community to have a say in how those dollars are invested back out in the community," she added. "We also need many volunteers because everybody has a different perspective and different background and we need a variety of voices to help make these decisions."

The time commitment for committee members is 12 to 15 hours from April to mid-May.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the 2024 committee can visit the United Way website at stjosephunitedway.org or call (816) -364-2381.

Jenna Wilson can be reached at jenna.wilson@newspressnow.com.