The Selma Times-Journal

The United Way of Selma and Dallas County’s annual campaign is up and running with a goal of $465,000 to provide funding for 15 agencies in Dallas County in 2006.

Bob Myers, who is president of the United Way board, is chairman of this year’s campaign.

Executive Director Jeff Cothran is optimistic that the goal will be met. &8220;We’re hoping to increase the total by 20 percent this year,&8221; he said. &8220;Workplace campaigns are beginning and by the first week of September the letters to individuals will be in the mail.&8221;

Cothran is buoyed by the presence of two new companies in this year’s lineup &045; Renosol and Lear-Kyungshin &045; Hyundai suppliers who’ve located in the Selma area. Also early results of employee campaigns look good.

United Way has been part of the community fabric in Selma and Dallas County since 1944, when the Community Chest was founded. &8220;This is the 62nd campaign in our history, and since the beginning, United Way and its predecessors have raised more than $15 million on behalf of nonprofit agencies providing services in our community,&8221; said Kathi Needham, community impact coordinator for the United Way and former president and campaign chair.

Among the programs supported by the fall campaign for 2006 funding are the Salvation Army, SABRA Sanctuary, Bosco Nutrition Center, American Red Cross, Special Pre-School Program, Cahaba Center for Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Crippled Children and Adults Association, Tukabatchee Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, Selma AIDS Information & Referral, Grist Branch of the YMCA, Brown Branch of the YMCA, Literacy Outreach Program, Selma Area Food Bank, Sickle Cell Disease Association, Selma Youth Development Center and South Central Alabama Girl Scout Council.

Cothran noted that in the past year the United Way has come off the drawing boards with its new Community Impact model, part of a national effort by United Ways to become more pro-active in their communities.