Anniversaries celebrate milestones in the life of everything from couples to companies to historic landmarks. The same can be said for organizations.

United Way of Abilene was founded on June 13, 1956. For 60 years, our mis-sion has centered on improving lives by mobilizing the caring power of the West Central Texas people.

In 2015, United Way’s board of direc-tors, donors, staff members, volunteers and partners came together with the skill, hard work, determination and passion to lead the organization to an impressive year. With Mayor Norm Archibald leading the way as campaign chair, we exceeded our largest campaign to date. The generous folks of Abilene and the Big Country donated more than $2 million in funds that will be spent in investments for West Texans.

In addition, spearheaded by volunteer Jim Barr, another $26,000 was raised and distributed to our partner agencies from proceeds amassed at the inaugural Key City Rhythm & Blues Festival.

In 2016, the United Way of Abilene and its partners will continue with program-ming to address our mission. Our 25 partner agencies collaborate in a way that shows responsible stewardship of our donors’ investments and demon-strate measurable progress in meeting our goal of mobilizing our resources.

Our “future-thinking” conversations revolve around growing our United Way endowment so that generations to come will benefit from more dollars devoted to meeting the needs of our communities.

Looking at our area’s demographics, future United Way volunteers will be focusing more on senior citizens. Baby

Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, will establish a new concept of health as we age and become America’s senior citizens. By 2030, nearly one in five Americans, or 71.5 million people, will be over the age of 65.

Based on emerging trends, food has returned as a dominant need for older adults in our area. As medical and hous-ing expenses continue to rise, less cash is available to bring food to the table. In addition, more seniors desire to “age in place,” or reside in their own homes, for as long as they are able.

As a member of the Baby Boomer gener-ation, I find it reassuring that research says as we grow older we will enjoy vol-unteer work involving children and teen-agers. This news is a win-win because data also shows that young people who participate in intergenerational pro-grams demonstrate progress in school attendance and attitudes toward school. We all know how critical that is to our area, our state and our country.

As we prepare for the future, the United Way of Abilene will continue to explore and formulate plans for meeting the changing needs of all of our citizens, particularly those who are most vulnera-ble. With a solid track record of commit-ment to our area, United Way arrives at the doorstep of our seventh decade of service with a strong base of community ownership and volunteer support.

PO Box 82Abilene, TX 79604(325) 677-1841www.unitedwayabilene.org

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDAbilene, TX

Permit No. 650

FIND US ON

LIVE UNITED TODAYINSIDE THIS ISSUE: 60th ANNIVERSARY, VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD, EVENTS & MORE

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CELEBRATING OUR 60th ANNIVERSARY

Watch for these events in 2016:Key City Rhythm & Blues Festival benefiting United Way of Abilene

April 29 - May 1Special Anniversary Announcement

June 6 - 13Campaign 2017 Kick Off

September 8Diamond Anniversary Celebration

October 6

Early United Fund officers Harwell Bar-ber, Roff Hardy, A.B. Shelton, and Dick Lawrence.

Blessings,

Scott Dueser, 1990 Campaign Chairman, announces that the campaign exceeded the goal.

Mike Schweikhard helps Elizabeth Grin-dratt mark the campaign thermometer in 1994.

2016 KEY CITY RHYTHM & BLUES FESTIVAL The 2nd annual Key City Rhythm & Blues Festival benefiting United Way of Abilene is quickly approaching! This year’s festival is set for April 29-30 at the Nelson Park Festival Gardens. Gates will open at 5:00 p.m. each night. This year’s event also features a Gospel Brunch on Sunday, May 1 at the Courtyard/TownePlace Suites Abilene Northeast. Our lineup of performers will not disappoint! Headline artists include Tommy Castro & the Painkillers, Lisa Mann, Mike Zito, Samantha Fish, and Albert Cummings. You can also plan to hear from local favorites including Happy Fat, KT and the Blues Scientists, Dave Hobbs Band, and Ill Lobo during the weekend. Local food truck favorites will be on hand inside the festival gates each night to serve up their specialities. This year’s Gospel Brunch will feature dynamic per-formances from Kirk House and the New Light Baptist Church Choir. Brunch tickets are limited. Tickets start at only $25 and are available online at www.keycityblues.com. For event questions, please con-tact United Way of Abilene at 677-1841. Connect with the Key City Rhythm & Blues Festival on Facebook to stay up-to-date with festival news. Come out to enjoy a fun weekend full of the blues and support United Way of Abilene!

Cathy AshbyPresident & CEOUnited Way of Abilene

Abilene Hope HavenAdult Protective Services Partners

Alliance for Women & ChildrenAlzheimer’s AssociationBen Richey Boys RanchBig Brothers Big Sisters

Big Country CASABoy Scouts Texas Trails Council

Boys & Girls ClubCancer Services Network

Center for Contemporary ArtsCity of Abilene Adaptive Recreation

Communities in SchoolsConnecting Caring Communities

Day Nursery of AbileneDyess Youth Programs

FaithWorksGirl Scouts Texas/Oklahoma Plains

Noah ProjectPresbyterian Medical Care Mission

Regional Victim Crisis CenterResourceCare

Southwestern Diabetic FoundationThe Salvation Army

YMCA of Abilene

2016 COMMUNITYPARTNERS

Staci Benavides and Rhonda Hicks at the United Way Annual Meeting.

United Way Board Members Sara Trammell and Chris Evatt present Mitch Davis and Wylie ISD with the Pinnacle Award.

United Way Board Members Regi Mc-Cabe-Gossett and Dr. Nancy Kucsinski at the United Way Annual Meeting.

Mary and Phil Christopher attending the Annual Meeting.

PHOTOS FROM THE ANNUAL MEETING BOLT RECEIVES VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD

UNITED WAY ANNUAL MEETING

Each February, United Way of Abilene donors, volunteers, and friends gather for the United Way of Abilene Annual Meeting. For the past 25 years, United Way of Abilene has used these membership meetings as an opportunity to celebrate the above and beyond service of one community member, the Vol-unteer Service Award recipient. A committee of previous Vol-unteer Service Award recipients meets on a yearly basis to select the next year’s award recipient. The 2016 award recipient was Leroy Bolt, Managing Partner for Condley & Company and long-time United Way of Abilene vol-unteer. Bolt, a United Way of Abilene Foundation Director and past United Way of Abilene director, has served in leadership capacities for many local organizations. Some of Bolt’s involvements include: •AbileneBetterBusinessBureau •WestTexasGirlScoutCouncil •AbileneJaycees •AbileneClaySports •LeadershipAbilene Criteria for the award include service to others; determination and per-sistence in fulfilling volunteer obligations; loyalty and integrity; active in-volvement in community activities in addition to United Way; and a dedica-tion to helping people in our community. Previous Volunteer Service Award recipients include Dale Cartee, Billye Proctor Shaw, Fred Lee Hughes, Dr. Phil Christopher, Joe Crawford, Dr. Bob Hunter, Scott Dueser, H.C. Zachry, and John Beckham.

PREPARING FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR The United Way of Abilene Board of Directors convened in February for their annual Board Retreat. The retreat was facilitated by Shannon Stagner, Direc-tor of Member Services for United Ways of Texas. Retreat topics included dis-cussion on building the bridge to the future and visioning for Abilene and West Central Texas. The retreat also served as the first meeting for eight new United Way of Abilene board members. New board members serving a three year term are: •MeganAllred,FirstAbileneFederalCreditUnion •LynnDarby,CommunityVolunteer •SageDiller,Enprotec/Hibbs&Todd •AlbertGutierrez,KTAB/KRBC-TV •LeeDeLeón,AbileneChristianUniversity •RobertHanna,CityofAbilene •TrentPoindexter,Wes-T-Go •DougPeters,AbileneChamberofCommerce Corby Flanagan will serve as 2016 Board Chairman. Other Executive Com-mittee members include Susan Watts, Lon Biebighauser, Jay Hardaway, and Chris Evatt. In recognition of United Way’s 60th Anniversary, five former campaign chairmen will serve as the campaign team for 2017. The returning chairs are Dick Spalding, Mike Schweikhard, Dr. Phil Christopher, Robert Bri-ley, and Jack Rentz.

$1,351,796 INVESTED IN 25 PARTNERSCOMMUNITY IMPACT

United Way of Abilene board and volunteers approved an investment of $1.3 million in 25 Community Partner agencies for 2016. The investment represents an approximate $50,000 increase from 2015 allocations. A review process requiring more than 50 volunteers is conducted on a yearly basis to determine investments. Volunteers assess program impact, community needs and trends, and agency fiscal stewardship. Volunteers also have the opportunity to take a site visit to applying programs and hear a presentation from agency and program leadership. Their recommendations are then presented to the board of directors for final approval. The twenty five agencies, listed at right, represent thir-ty four programs em-phasizing Education, Income, and Health in the West Central Texas region. Unit-ed Way of Abilene partners collaborate in a way that shows responsible steward-ship of your invest-ment and demon-strate measurable change for the communities we serve. A reception was held in January to announce the recipients of 2016 invest-ments.

COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLSIMPACT SPOTLIGHT ON

During United Way of Abilene’s monthly board meetings, a Community Partner is highlighted during the Community Impact Spotlight. The Com-munity Impact Spotlight for March focused on Com-munities in Schools of the Big Country. Receiving recognition for Communities in Schools was Coo-per High School Campus Coordinator Joe Cunning-ham and Cooper High School Senior Ariel Olvera. Cunningham, a long-time CIS Campus Coordina-tor, has mentored and helped Olvera stay on the right path for graduation. She will graduate in May. Communities in Schools serves 8 middle school and high school campuses in Abilene ISD and Wy-lie ISD. Through a school-based site coordinator, CIS strategically aligns and delivers a network of support and resources so that students can focus on learning. CIS Coordinators focus on improving student attendance, behavior and academic per-formance. Christian Clyburn, Ariel Olvera, Joe Cunningham, and Terry Johnson representing

Communities in Schools of the Big Country.

UNITED WAY OF ABILENE BOARD