The Vicksburg United Way allocations committee faced some tough decisions this month. It wrestled with total requests for $26,800 but had just $11,992 to spend. This was in part due to the overall United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region’s campaign missing its goal by about 10 percent.
The Vicksburg campaign is a part of the larger effort and receives an amount to allocate based on the results of the overall campaign. A request for funding was received from South County Community Services (SCCS) for $10,000. This new program is designed to assist people with aging well in the community. It was deemed an important initiative for SCCS so its funding was granted. Generous Hands’ request of $15,000 for backpack food was whittled down to $1,992, the remainder of the local money available.
Requests from Vicksburg Community Schools Community Education scholarship program for $1,500 had to be turned down as did the Vicksburg District Library’s request for $300 to fund its summer reading program. “These are very worthy requests that we have funded in the past. The committee is hoping it can find the replacement dollars locally as both are good programs for kids during the summer months,” according to Laura Howard, chair of the Vicksburg United Way effort.
Howard has been involved in United Way for many years both in Vicksburg and on the board of United Way of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Region. She was honored recently at the campaign wrap-up gathering. Howard was among 15 people who were singled out for their leadership contributions to United Way. “Laura has the ability to see the big picture and exhibits a good planning mind. She is dedicated to the adjacent communities program, having involvement with the overall program and having led the Vicksburg program for almost 30 years,” said Mike Larson, United Way regional CEO and president, in handing her the award.
Others serving on the local campaign committee include Tim Moore, Carol Lohman, Gen Landtroop, Danna Downing, Tonya Nash, Sue Moore and Travis Cree. Nash and Downing recused themselves from the voting.