Dodge's Southern Style donates over $19,000 to United Way NEMS agencies
May 12—TUPELO — Dodge's Southern Style donated $19,500 to United Way of Northeast Mississippi and their partner agencies, Wednesday afternoon at their store on West Main Street in Tupelo.
According to Amy Gregory, member of the Dodge's support team, the Dodge's family wanted to give back to the community. Supporting the local United Way, which in turn helps fund various nonprofit agencies throughout the region, seemed like the way to do the most good.
"We've been very blessed to be dubbed as essential during the pandemic, and that has certainly put us in a position to be able to do well as a company, and we wanted to do good with that," Gregory said. "We're incredibly grateful ... to be able to serve our community."
Representatives with Dodge's, which has more than 40 locations across nine southeastern states, reached out to United Way campaign director Mike Mitchell to discuss how they could give back locally.
"We have the perfect vehicle to do that," Mitchell said. "We're able to designate where people's money goes, and it gives them the flexibility to pick and choose how they want to support their community locally."
The donation has been allocated to three partner agencies: Faith Haven, Hope Family Ministries, and the Weekend Backpack Program at First United Methodist Church. The backpack program was particularly near and dear to the Dodge's family's heart, Gregory said.
Last year, United Way food pantries gave over 38,000 boxes of food during their regular food pantry distributions. In Northeast Mississippi, 20 to 25% of the population is food insecure, Mitchell said. For children, it is often higher. In some United Way counties, as many as 1 in 3 children have too little to eat, said Robin McKinney, United Way Director of Marketing and Communications.
"The weekend backpack program ... is directly targeting those kids so they have something to eat over the weekend," McKinney said. "We're just so glad to be able to make this happen for Dodge's and support what they want to do in the community, and we're glad they chose us to partner with."
