"Building relationships to support our community with

collaboration, compassion and purpose."

The 30th annual John F. Hall Catawba County United Way Cross Country Invitational was held last week (Oct. 11) at Southside Park in Newton with 20 area high school teams and 400 runners showing up for another epic day of racing.

It was also a chance to celebrate the 15 service projects completed by teams prior to the race. This meet tradition encourages local youth to give back to their communities and make acts of kindness a regular part of their daily lives.

And once again, the Rotary Club of Hickory supported this outreach by providing monetary rewards to the top three projects, chosen by an independent panel.

This year’s service project winners were: 1st – T.C. Roberson High; 2nd Alexander Central High and 3rd – Shelby High.

For T.C. Roberson’s winning project, the team made book recommendation bookmarks of their favorite books for the high school’s library. They also created word flash cards for students who receive direct reading instruction at Koontz intermediate school.

John Hall, who originally came up with the idea for the meet, also took time to recognize the three Catawba County cross country coaches who helped him organize and get the event started – Allan Sigmon the former coach at Bandys High School; Bob Sloop the former Hickory High coach and former Bunker Hill High coach Jeff Taylor.

“At the time John (Hall) started the race, there wasn’t anything like this in the area. It was much needed,” Taylor said. “But the unique part started off with bringing in an inspirational message with a speaker, later that morphed into, let’s do something. Let’s give back,” Taylor said. “That aspect of it, I haven’t seen in any other meet and makes it a really special thing for all the kids in the area that get to compete.”

On the cross country course, Blake Nicholson from Christ the King Catholic School finished first in the boys’ championship meet with a time of 15:47.55, the best time since 2018 when Michel Zapherson from T.C. Roberson posted a time of 15:43.

It was a big finish in the girls’ championship race as well with Breanna Budzinski of West Henderson crossing the line first with a time of 18:07.44. It is the best time since 2015 when Anna Vess from A.C. Reynolds posted a time of 18:05.

Complete results at - THIS LINK.

The United Way would like to thank all of this year’s sponsors: Big Kahuna Timing, CT Management, Century Furniture, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Frye Regional Medical Center, Hickory Metro Sports, Hamilton & Herring Orthodontics, Rotary Club of Hickory, Premier Screen Printing & Promotions, Publix, Sharp Business Systems, Highways and Hedges Ministries, Pepsi, Catawba County EMS, City of Newton Recreation Department and Lenoir-Rhyne University Cross Country Team.

Congratulations to Ryan Pritts from Shurtape,

this week's car drawing finalist in the 2023 Catawba County United Way Car Giveaway.

It's starting out as a big year with more than 2,500 names currently in the drawing with six more weeks to go.

For the 12th year, the car will be donated by Paramount Automotive Group, and thank you to RLI – CPA, Certified Public Accountants for overseeing this year’s drawings.

Want to be part of this year’s United Way campaign and have a chance to win a new car?

Call 828-327-6851 or visit THIS LINK.

Thank You to everyone who supports the CCUW every year.

Past Car Giveaway winners:

• 2012 – Richard Jennings – Century
• 2013 – Barbara Cromer – The Salvation Army
• 2014 – Cody Myers – HSM
• 2015 – Marcie Boughman – DSS
• 2016 – Deborah Morel – DSS
• 2017 – Fred Roseberry – Century
• 2018 – Susan Estes – Conover School
• 2019 – Danny Miller – Shurtape
• 2020 – Amy Hedrick – Publix Lake Hickory Crossing
• 2021 – Meghan Stripling – Conover School
• 2022 – Margaret Bush – Conover School

For the first time, the Catawba County United Way helped coordinate a section at the Hickory Oktoberfest for direct human services 501c3 non-profits.

This allowed a dozen local agencies to share their services and programs with the public during all three days of the festival.

The local non-profits included:

• Cognitive Connection Corporation
• ALFA
• Catawba Valley Healthcare
• In My Father's House
• Neighbors Network, Inc.
• AMS - SSHS Juntos
• The Salvation Army of Greater Hickory and High Country
• Community Care of North Carolina
• Integrated Care of Hickory
• Foothills Veterans Helping Veterans
• Disabled American Veterans
• The Hickory Soup Kitchen

The United Way thanks the Hickory Downtown Development Association for the great work they did organizing this year’s Oktoberfest.



Catawba County United Way was thrilled to be a part of today's Fall Fling "Acts of Kindness" event at Catawba Valley Community College. Shanna and Lauren distributed information about NC 211 to students and gave out hand sanitizer for the upcoming cold and flu season.

Thank you CVCC for inviting us to your annual resource fair!

Applications taken in October

Visit www.ecccm.org/cccb to select your appointment day/time.

If you cannot access the online appointment site, call 828-322-2535 to schedule an appointment. There are a limited number of appointments available so schedule your appointment ASAP.



Appointment times will be available Oct. 2 – 26 (Mondays – Thursdays) 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. and Oct. 10 and 19, 6 – 8 p.m.. Do not bring children.

To make your appointment go smoother, bring all required documentation and complete an information sheet for each child.

What’s Required to Register

·        Photo ID or passport for each applying adult.

·        Birth certificate or Medicaid card with date of birth for all children ages.

·        0-17 and still attending school in the household.

·        Custody papers as applicable.

·        Current food stamp award letter OR proof of all monthly income and expenses.

·        Proof of Catawba County residency.

·        17 and under and still in school – use additional paper if needed.

·        Prepare information for all children in household: name, birth date, gender, needs,

wishes, favorite color – tv show – animal, clothing type – infant – toddler- child, shoe size, coat, pants waist, pants length, shirt, bra.

Volunteer "Elves" Needed

If you have any questions or want to learn about being a volunteer for the event (we can always use the extra help during distribution on Dec. 12 and 13) visit THIS LINK to volunteer or call 828-327-6851 or email John Bailey at the Catawba County United Way – jbailey@ccunitedway.com.

We've all heard the phrase - "It takes a village," and in the non-profit world it's true. The Catawba County United Way enjoys building relationships with its community partners and sees how much greater our impact is because of our collective efforts every day.

Below are some upcoming programs and events from just a few of those partners...please share, and if you're interested, the Catawba County Interagency Council meets the second Thursday every month at the United Way office - 2760 Tate Blvd SE in Hickory.

Call 828-327-6851 for more information or email jbailey@ccunitedway.com.

Susan also learned of a local door-to-door transportation service at a minimal fee, and local food resources. If you need referral help with any basic needs, call us at 2-1-1 or 1- 888-892-1162.

From food resources, emergency financial assistance, housing, healthcare, transportation - NC 211 can help you find out which services are available in your community. Call 2-1-1 or 1-888-892-1162 or visit nc211.org.

Catawba County United Way is one of several community partners who help fund this program.