SPRINGDALE -- University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long promised to double his personal contribution for the 2017 United Way campaign and challenged others with means to join him.
The campaign theme is "Paint Their Future Bright," a theme targeted at reducing the number of Northwest Arkansas children living in poverty. In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated 25,798 area children were living in poverty.
Fast facts
United Way of Northwest Arkansas
• 2017 campaign theme is “Paint Their Future Bright”
• Part of the money raised will go toward providing a pathway out of poverty for children
• United Way also requests volunteers and advocates for children living in poverty
• An estimated 25,798 children lived in poverty in 2015
Source: unitedwaynwa.org and U.S. Census
"Northwest Arkansas is a great place to live," Long said. "There are a group of people who don't see the greatness of Northwest Arkansas."
Long and Sandi Morris, who won a silver medal in pole vaulting at the summer Olympics, joined about 60 community members just after sunrise Thursday in the Sam's Club Community Room at Arvest Ballpark to kick off the United Way campaign season.
Workplace campaigns will take place at 200 organizations this fall, said Christina Hinds, vice president of resource development for United Way of Northwest Arkansas.
The number of children living in poverty in Northwest Arkansas is close to the number of students enrolled at the University of Arkansas, an enrollment that surpassed 27,000 students this fall, Long said. Based on federal poverty guidelines, a family of four living in poverty would have a household income of $24,300 or less. He declined to disclose how much he would give to United Way through the University of Arkansas campaign, which begins today.
The regional goal is to raise $3.5 million, said Mike Russel, a United Way board member who is this year's campaign chairman. Russel agreed to take Long's challenge in his giving through his company Procter & Gamble's campaign.
Those who give money often wonder what impact it has, and Long learned more about giving to United Way in the mid-1990s when he was on the board of the United Washtenaw County in Ann Arbor, Mich. At the time, he was associate athletic director for the University of Michigan. He became familiar with agencies receiving United Way money and the work they did for children and low-income families.
The University of Arkansas has a long history of organizing United Way campaigns, Long said. The campaign goal this year is $170,000. The nearly 500 Razorback student athletes are encouraged to give back to the community by volunteering, often with organizations receiving money from United Way.
For children to be aspire to attend the university, they need food to fuel their bodies and their minds, Long said.
One of Morris's favorite roles as an athlete is to inspire children. In late August, Morris saw the joy on children's faces when she let them touch her silver medal on a visit to Butterfield Trail Elementary School in Fayetteville.
"To see numbers of kids who are homeless and don't have opportunities like the ones I had, I want to affect them," Morris said.
Morris, who spent her childhood in Greenville, S.C., started running track at age 7. Her parents drove her all over the country for competitions, paid for her to work with top coaches and made sure she had proper nutrition, she said. At the Olympics, she won a silver medal after vaulting herself to a height of 4.85 meters, or 15 feet, 11 inches. Three weeks later, on Sept. 9, during the International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League final in Brussels, she became one of three women to clear 5 meters, or 16 feet, 4.75 inches, in pole vault.
"I had opportunities a lot of the kids we're talking about today never dreamed of," Morris said during the kickoff meeting. "Without food and shelter and simple things like that, you can't chase your dreams of any kind."
Several years ago, the United Way board began studying the most significant issues facing the community, hiring consultants to interview nonprofit groups, donors, staff and board members. The top issues were hunger, homelessness, children and education, with the board deciding to focus the United Way's effort on a goal of providing children with a pathway out of poverty, said Kim Aaron, United Way president.
In researching the numbers of children living in poverty, United Way officials found U.S. Census Bureau data from 2014 showing more than 27,000 children were living in poverty in the Northwest Arkansas metropolitan statistical area, said Kathy Deck, a United Way board member who is director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas. The metropolitan area includes Benton, Washington and Madison counties and McDonald County, Mo.
The Census recently released the statistics for 2015 and at the same time revised the 2014 numbers, she said. The most recent data shows 25,798 children, or 19.4 percent, were living in poverty in the metropolitan area, according to one-year estimates from the 2015 American Community Survey.
That goal of the focus on children living in poverty is to provide a continuum of programs for moving families out of poverty, Aaron said.
The first programs to receive money through the focus on children living in poverty were announced this summer.
United Way staff are discussing how best to measure progress on reducing children living in poverty over the next three to five years, based on input from area nonprofit groups, Aaron said. A new funding cycle for grants will launch in the spring, with United Way requesting feedback for the 2017 grants from any interested organizations.
NW News on 09/30/2016