A Message From The CEO

FROM THE CEO

ALISON ANTHONY, TULSA AREA UNITED WAY

EQUAL NIGHT. That’s the Latin translation of Equinox, the day twice a year where the sun crosses the celestial equator, when day and night are of equal length. As I write on the Spring Equinox, hearing the birds outside my window, I’m honoring the balance of dark and light. Our team is looking forward to the longer, warmer days and the 2022 work ahead, but we’re also grateful for the winter we’ve been through to reflect on the past year and to prepare for planting new seeds for future growth and abundance.

As long as I can remember, I’ve been leaning forward and charging ahead to what is next, and admittedly, this means I’m not great at pausing to celebrate. But our Live United Awards Luncheon on March 8 brought us together with more than 800 people to honor the work of thousands of volunteers, donors, companies, and teams who showed up for this community, raising $25,493,060. We joined the choir from LIFE Senior Services that day, singing the Star Spangled Banner with an open heart. More than 800 strong, many of us were moved to tears, jubilant we were back together in person, remembering those we have lost, grateful for your generosity, and raising our voices to celebrate the freedom we enjoyed that day. We also knew that many around the world are fighting for their freedom, and we lifted up our voices for them as well.

In case you weren’t able to join us, we cheered for more than 900 companies and tens of thousands of donors who helped us surpass the campaign goal. We also recognized the nearly 200 volunteers, including some of you, who spent more than 5,000 hours in the first half of the year making sure that amazing $25,493,060 you helped raise is well invested in 59 excellent nonprofit partners and grant programs.

WE ALL WORKED HARD AND HAD FUN TOGETHER, RAISING LIFE-SAVING FUNDS “

FOR OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS IN NEED.”

We reflected on so many good things and people from this past year:

• More than 1,000 people walking through a balloon arch on a beautiful Saturday morning to raise $100,000 during the 2nd Annual

Downtown Deco Challenge sponsored by

Price Family Properties.

• More than 6,000 volunteers helping improve lives in the six-county area during one of our three Days of Caring opportunities.

• 42,000 pounds of food and 200 pints of blood donated during the June 2021 Food and Blood

Drive.

• And most notably, our 2021 campaign co-chairs,

Karen Keith and Tim Lyons, giving hundreds of hours visiting each and every one of our 59 partner agencies so they really knew the why behind the work they accepted. They were fierce in their support and never lost faith we would reach our goal. And they made it fun and celebrated each Friday, visiting agencies and eating Mexican food across our six counties.

We all worked hard and had fun together, raising life-saving funds for our friends and neighbors in need. My husband, Mark, never looks twice when I leave the house during campaign season dressed as Cyndi Lauper or Joan Jett. When I zoomed from an office covered in a hundred blow-up pink flamingos, part of our TAUW internal campaign fundraising, no one looked too worried. The joy of the United Way fundraising effort is that it brings together hundreds of campaigns where we can laugh with executives and leaders who dress up in furry animal suits or like 80s rock singers (if you haven’t seen a picture of Alan Armstrong dressed like Gene Simmons, I highly encourage you to do so). We sing karaoke, compete in clay shoots, and dance like crazy - all to help United Way live our mission, uniting people and resources to improve lives and strengthen our communities. I’ll never again underestimate the importance of having fun and celebrating the good work we can do together.

And now leaning into 2022, we hope you’ll join us in support of Peggy Simmons, President and COO of Public Service Company of Oklahoma, as she leads our fundraising campaign. She and I are excited to see if the seeds we’ve planted will mean we can surpass the 43 new campaigns from the 2021 campaign. The Tocqueville Society welcomed 31 new members. Thank you! How many others can we bring onto this path of joy in 2022?

We don’t take any of this for granted and are always seeking new ways to grow because the needs are significant. We’re embarking on new work in planned giving, increased outreach in the surrounding communities, and as always, innovative ways to add value for those who give, volunteer, advocate and serve. Our talented team has been hard at work already this year, and I trust in their ability – with your help - to navigate the challenges ahead, creating change that makes our community a great place to live for each person and family.