President, Scott Barr, reports the Shelby County United Way recently completed the annual partner agency allocation process in March, April, and May. Six allocation teams consisting of over thirty five people including Board Members, Company, and Community Volunteers conducted agency reviews. The teams were comprised of the following Impact Areas: Enriching the Lives of Seniors, Investing in Youth & Children, Promoting Health & Well Being, Caring for People in Crisis, Strengthening Families & Individuals, and Community-Wide Initiatives. Barr states, “The allocation process provides accountability and ensures the community’s dollars are impacting Shelby County’s greatest needs. We leverage the experience and skill set of our board of directors and community volunteers to evaluate and make recommendations to our partners. This year COVID-19 impacted how a couple of the meetings took place. We are also experiencing significant pledge loss in the months of April and May due to many payroll donors not working during parts of those months. The board has lowered total allocations for 2020-2021 as a result of the pledge loss and an anticipated challenging campaign this upcoming fall.” In addition to the twenty one member board of directors, this year’s Community Volunteers were Connie Barhorst; Air Handling Equipment, Mickey Hamer; Cargill, Doug Borchers; Superior Aluminum, Ed Borchers; retired Superior Aluminum, Josh Ross; Ruese Insurance, John Bertsch; Detailed Machining, Julia Barker; Community Insurance Group, Shirae Reeves, US Bank; Scott Smith; Mutual Federal, Amanda Card; Lochard Inc., Katy Zimpfer; Emerson, Alex Lochard; Lochard Inc., Laura Fogt; NK Parts, Jana Potts, former United Way employee; Katie Hoehne, City of Sidney; Jami Young; Electro Controls; and current United Way employee, Tracy Eck.
The Board of Trustees approved the recommended agency allocations during their May Board Meeting. The agencies’ awards are as listed:
| CASA/GAL | 15,000.00 |
| SafeHaven | 16,000.00 |
| Clear Creek Farms | 40,000.00 |
| Compassionate Care | 56,000.00 |
| Victim Services | 20,000.00 |
| Samaritan Works | 50,000.00 |
| Emergency Housing & Utilities | 18,000.00 |
| Day Break Adult Day Services | 20,500.00 |
| Alpha Community Center | 38,000.00 |
| American Red Cross | 10,192.00 |
| Big Brothers Big Sisters | 40,000.00 |
| Catholic Social Services Counseling | 24,000.00 |
| Imagination Library | 6,685.00 |
| Miami Valley Council Boy Scouts | 22,500.00 |
| New Choices | 55,000.00 |
| Rehabilitation Center | 20,000.00 |
| Workforce Partnership Career Coach | 15,000.00 |
| Senior Center Sidney/Shelby Co | 32,000.00 |
| Shelby Co ESC Opportunity School | 13,000.00 |
| Shelby County ARC | 16,000.00 |
| Sidney/Shelby Co YMCA Childcare | 70,000.00 |
| Catholic Social Services Senior Health | 36,000.00 |
| Wilma Valentine CLC | 64,000.00 |
| Agape Distribution | 40,000.00 |
| Special Project Grants | 30,000.00 |
| Sheriff’s Star House | 25,000.00 |
| 211 | 6000.00 |
| Student United Way | 10,000.00 |
| TOTAL | 808,877.00 |