The United Way of the Coastal Empire’s umbrella is now reaching out to cover Long County.
The United Way announced last week it was expanding its service area to include Long County, including it with Liberty, Bryan, Chatham and Effingham.
Reaching out to cover Long County has been in the works for the past year, said Liberty County unit executive director Kristin Hopkins-Graham.
“It’s really important to the community,” she said of the expansion to cover Long County, “because they have been siloed for so long and not really had any services that are rooted directly in their community. For the county, because it has not been covered by many non-profits or agencies that provide the type of services that United Way does, it will be good for them.”
Hopkins-Graham said adding the United Way will complement the efforts underway through local churches and a new Rotary Club chapter.
“The churches there do a great job,” she said.
One of the first initiatives will be a Backpack Buddies program. A local church had one set up years ago before it stopped.
Hopkins-Graham said the Long County School System was receptive and welcoming of the United Way reviving the program.
“They know there are a lot of students in the county who could really benefit from the program,” she said.
As the local United Way raises money and support locally and acquires grant backing, the Long County efforts could include Read United and an emergency assistance fund.
“We hope to cover Long County in the same respect we cover Liberty County, with all the services we provide,” Hopkins- Graham said. “We know it will be a slow roll as we continue to gain support from the community.”
Because of the Herschel V. Jenkins Foundation, the administrative costs of the United Way of the Coastal Empire are covered, meaning donations can go directly to programs and services.
Also, because so many people living in Long County work elsewhere, the new Long County outreach enables them to give to the United Way and keep their money at work in their community.
“That’s one of the reasons why we want to make sure Long County is recognizing everything we do, that we have just as much presence as we do in Liberty County, and know that the citizens are supported n the same way. We want them to know where their money is going,” Hopkins-Graham said.
For now, the Long County efforts will be handled from the Liberty County office, though they are working on a satellite office, such as the one United Way has at Riceboro City Hall.
“We’re fully capable of servicing Liberty and Long county residents from our office. I have a wonderful staff who goes above and beyond to make sure people are serviced,” Hopkins-Graham added.
The local United Way campaign kickoff will be held September 18 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Liberty County Board of Education. The campaign kickoff will include Long County.
“It just made sense to move in this direction,” Hopkins-Graham said. “Our demographics are so closely intertwined, and the community has some of the same barriers, such as transportation. It made sense for us to be together and overcome those barriers together.”
