Anyone that’s been near me in the last month has gotten to hear about my garden! With one half flowers and the other half vegetables, we’ve been so pleased to actually have an abundance of zinnias along with tomatoes, squash, green beans, purple hull peas, corn, and peppers! This was our second year of growing a garden….Last year we grew mostly weeds :) . This year, we did more prep work in the spring, like adding fertilizer to the soil and buying a tiller. We also purchased better seeds and didn’t abandon it for the month of July. We are happy our hard work is paying off.
As I think about growing a garden, I also think about United Way’s campaign fundraising season. It’s often said, “What is planted in the spring, grows in the summer and is harvested in the fall! During campaign season, we KNOW that we can’t expect a harvest of donations unless we have been diligent the entire year. So, thanks to many of the volunteers who work tirelessly year- round for United Way!!
One event to highlight from this past month was our United Way Regional Kickoff! Hopefully, you’ve heard the buzz about this event that we hosted on a new virtual platform that allowed for some cool audience interactions. But even more importantly, we loved the great speakers! In case you missed it or had technical issues getting logged in, the entire kickoff can be seen here. While I’d encourage you to watch the entire presentation, highlights include a performance from the Dobyns-Bennett Band, UTK’s Chancellor Donde Plowman’s keynote with personal comments on leadership, United Way of West Tennessee’s Matt Marshall with a spotlight on racial equity, Eastman’s Centennial recognition, United Way Regional COVID-19 Relief companies’ recognition, and the culmination with regional campaign goal announcements, each shot from special locations around our region!
So, as we continue to move together through a tough and unusual year of 2020, our campaign theme, “United We’re Strong” resonates loudly in my mind. I feel blessed to live and work in a true community of people like those found in our Greater Kingsport area, who continue showing resilience in the midst of difficulties. Together we will respond, recover and rebuild our community.
United We’re Strong!
Danelle Glasscock
Executive Director
P.S. September means its United Way campaign season! Please consider giving generously at your workplace, online at uwaykpt.org/give, or by mail to UWGK, 301 Louis Street, Kingsport TN 37660. To see ALL our great new campaign collateral, please visit our website at https://www.uwaykpt.org/2020campaign. The new Community Impact videos are awesome! Please check them out!
