Having grown up a lot since those days, I did find myself on Labor Day weekend thinking that it was a "perfect" weekend for those who keep up with football scores. To begin the weekend, the Dobyns-Bennett Indians won their first home game (my son is #46!) despite all the distractions of a new upper deck, new uniforms, and a new jumbotron. On Saturday, my son at NC State was happy the Wolfpack pulled out a nail biter in the last couple of minutes to win their game. Our daughter, a graduate from Auburn University, was excited that despite an almost 2 hour weather delay, our Auburn Tigers secured a victory. And then on Sunday night, all our University of Tennessee friends celebrated an early season victory with some great young men from Kingsport getting playing time. It was a great start of keeping score, and winning, for many on the first full weekend of football.

As I've thought about keeping score, I've been thinking about United Way. We've set our target goal out for the community to see - $4 Million. This goal has been a culmination of the past four years of steady increasing to reach this monumental goal. The goal, of course, is not important because of the number itself, but for the number of lives that can be improved through the generous donations of community members. Our goal is much like a football team's score. If we make it, we win, if we don't make it. . .well, we'd rather not think about that.

The goal for a United Way community campaign is more than just a goal. The goal is seen as a barometer of community health. The campaign thermometers, as they rise throughout the fall, are a very visual outside reading of an internal temperature. The thermometers reflect the temperature, or the score, of our community. It's seen as the CARING level of those in a community. It's seen as the TRUST level between people. This CARING and TRUST results in meaningful collaborations that help us maintain our system of excellence and work to eliminate future challenges by identify and tackling the root causes of our community's most pressing social problems.

As you consider what your United Way donation will be, I encourage you to be generous and help us reach our goal, to help us win our "game." United Way of Greater Kingsport is committed to creating A BETTTER LIFE for ALL, A BETTER LIFE for YOU in our community. If you've made your pledge, I say a sincere thank you. If you haven't made your pledge yet, please join me and make your pledge today. Together, let's raise the score higher than it's ever been in our community. Thank you and Live United!

Live United,
 

Danelle Glasscock                                                     Executive Director