Huntington Quarterly Autumn 2022

any way the programs see fit to support their capacity, including operating and capital expenses and staff and professional development. “Those sorts of capacity-building dollars tend to be difficult for nonprofits to find,” Bailey said. “We wanted to celebrate the work that our nonprofit partners do by supporting them.” The fourth project of the centennial celebration year is a large-scale volunteer event — perhaps the largest single volunteer event undertaken in 100 years by the nonprofit — titled ReadAcross the River Cities, which took place November 15. Around 200 volunteers were recruited to read to every third-grade class in the five-county area United Way serves: Cabell, Lincoln, Mason and Wayne counties in West Virginia and Lawrence County in Ohio. This event was meant not only to highlight the importance of literacy and grade level reading, but also to encourage volunteer efforts in schools. “Since the pandemic, the num ber of volunteers coming into the schools has declined; so we’re hop ing an event like this can jumpstart getting volunteers back into the schools to read on a regular basis,” Bailey noted. While UnitedWay of the River Cities is focusing on these centennial celebra tions, the organization continues all its regular efforts, such as maintaining a community pantry box with food, hygiene and clothing items; the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that benefits low-income earners; and supporting early childhood education. Bailey said UnitedWay is also creating new pilot programs, including a high school internship program at Huntington High School. “Conversations with high

PHOTO BY RICK LEE

Carol H. Bailey, executive director of United Way of the River Cities has planned four events and projects to mark the nonprofit’s 100th anniversary.

programs coordinator, with additional plans to open a financial wellness center within the next 12 months. “We want to take the terrific, strong, robust program we have withVITA and expand that so we can provide

more in terms of financial stability services, whether it’s financial literacy or connect ing individuals with financial institutions,” Bailey said. United Way of the River Cities and Huntington have always supported one another,

school students revealed they have an interest in learningmore about the job opportunities in their home community, and we thought this would be a great way to introduce them,” Bailey said. “We’re working to connect them with employers through

A group of committed individuals can create tremendous change in a community. —Carol h. bailey

and Bailey said the two enti ties have grown together over the years. “We’ve done our best to grow and evolve along with the town and the surrounding counties as we’ve taken them on as well,” Bailey explained. “This is an extremely

internships; we want these to be paid intern positions, so we are seeking the funds to pay the stipends.” Bailey said United Way is also looking to grow its financial stability work and has hired a financial

A U T U M N 2 0 2 2

73

H U N T I N G T O N Q U A R T E R L Y