UNITED WAY ASKS HELP OF SERVICE CLUBS

Leaders of several Cape Girardeau service organizations shared information about their club's missions and learned about efforts of the Area Wide United Way Friday morning.

Members of Cape Girardeau Rotary West, the Lion's Club, and the Elks Lodge attended the breakfast, sponsored by the United Way at the Holiday Inn. United Way Executive Director Nancy Jernigan said the event will help determine how her organization can work with service clubs to coordinate services to the community.

"We also want to keep your clubs informed about what the United Way is doing," Jernigan said during the meeting. "We need feedback from you and your members to make sure we're not missing anything."

Earlier this month, the United Way launched its annual fund-raising campaign that will continue through December. This year's goal of $925,000 is $175,000 more than last year, a circumstance United Way board members attribute to a strong economy, the needs of the community and financial resources available locally.

"Cape Girardeau is a unique and fantastic place," said United Way board member Melvin Gateley. "You don't really know for sure all of the good things you're going to get involved in in the day until you get into it each day. That makes it a wonderful place to live."

After hearing informal presentations from service club leaders regarding their own fundraising efforts and major local and national projects, Jernigan spoke about the four issues of concern the United Way is addressing in the community.

The organization set aside $80,000 last year after a community needs assessment it conducted indicated transportation, affordable housing, youth substance abuse and assistance to low-income families were problems that have been inadequately addressed locally. Special committees were organized to determine how best to spend the funds.

The United Way offered $20,000 to be allocated over two years to the Cape Girardeau County Commission. Jernigan said the funding would be used to offset costs to get a transit authority started in the county.

"We felt like there was a lot of data collected around transpiration needs in the county, and we felt like the transit authority was the next best thing that could benefit from our support," she said.

Committees formed to address a lack of housing, and increases in low-income families and youth substance abuse continue to discuss possible programming and other strategies to improve situations in those areas. There appears to be strong community support for developing new or expanding existing mentoring programs in all three areas, said Jernigan.

"We believe with the folks we have involved, and through our campaign and the volunteers and agencies we support, we can make an impact in all four of these key areas," she said. "Our goal is not to get into the business of new programming, because we think what's already being done is probably a good start and really effective in some areas. What we want to do is look at what's already being done, look at what the needs are, and see how we can bring all of that together to touch on the four issues we've decided to focus on."