PEOPLE & PLACES
1 CORA Pantry Manager Mackie Hunter, CORA Executive Director Melissa Driver Beard, CORA Inventory and Logistics Specialist Reggie Blue and CORA Transportation and Warehouse Supervisor Travus Viera stand on the site of the new sidewalk before Carolina Civilworks pours concrete donated by Chandler Concrete Company. 2 United Way of Chatham County Board Chair Jim Sink and United Way of Chatham County Interim Executive Director Katie Childs at the CORA sidewalk project.
Day of Service
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hosted a community service day on Sept. 3, 2020, which kickstarted its fall fundraising campaign with nine in-person volunteer sites, three donation drop-off points and two virtual volunteer opportunities. United Way coordinated the event after COVID-19 precautions canceled its annual luncheon at Governors Club. “Our staff and board put our thinking caps on to brainstorm ways we could still rally the community around the launch of our annual fundraising campaign without ignoring the broader issue on everyone’s mind: the pandemic and how it is affecting our neighbors in the county,” says United Way Interim Executive Director Katie Childs. Coordinators and volunteers tackled projects ranging from landscaping and outdoor improvements to food drives. “It’s important to put into Chatham County as much as you can to make the community better,” says Portia McClarnon, one of more than 100 volunteers who participated in the Day of Service to support United Way’s mission to “improve the education, health and financial stability of Chatham residents.” Nonprofits that received assistance included the Chatham Outreach Alliance, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina, Chatham County Council on Aging senior centers in Pittsboro and Siler City, CORA Food Pantry, Chatham Trades Inc., Chatham Habitat for Humanity and the West Chatham Food Pantry. As the largest nonprofit funder in Chatham County, United Way will use proceeds from its fall fundraising campaign to supply grants to programs providing direct services to people in need. CM United Way of Chatham County
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3 Staff from Chatham Hospital and Chatham County Sheriff’s Office make outdoor improvements to the Western Chatham Senior Center. 3
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
DECEMBER / JANUARY 2021
