Luncheon held to celebrate United Way of Greater Texarkana for century of service; annual campaign kicks off

TEXARKANA, Texas (KSLA) - A Texarkana nonprofit was honored at a special luncheon Thursday afternoon (Aug. 31).

The United Way of Greater Texarkana has served the region for 100 years. In attendance of the event were representatives with the United Way Worldwide organization.

“When an organization reaches 100, it is nothing to take lightly. People really had to lean in to make that happen, and United Way Worldwide is thrilled to help local United Way celebrate. A hundred years is special,” Bill Kitson, the regional director of United Way, said.

Leaders say four participating agencies served when the United Way of Greater Texarkana started a century ago. Now, two of the original agencies remain, including the Salvation Army.

“Because of them, we are able to keep our doors open. We know that they are advocating for us, and we know they are key players in this community to make sure that everyone is helped,” Clara Gomez, of the Salvation Army, said.

Not only was there a luncheon Thursday, but the day also marked the kickoff for the Annual United Way Campaign.

Mark Bledsoe, the executive director, set this year’s goal to $900,000. He says the nonprofit has fallen short of their goal over the past couple of years due to COVID, but they are still supporting more than twenty partnering agencies.

“Because we are still recovering from COVID, believe it or not that money taken out of our rainy-day fund, we got to get some of that back. But we have not decreased the amount of services to any of the agencies,” Bledsoe said.

The United Way of Greater Texarkana serves nine counties in Arkansas and Texas.

DOWNLOAD THE KSLA NEWS 12 APP FOR NEWS IN THE ARKLATEX

Copyright 2023 KSLA. All rights reserved.