United Way program back on the airways

The public will once again get a chance to see firsthand some of what the United Way of Southeast Missouri does in the community when "Get On the Bus" airs Friday through Sunday and Oct. 8 on UPN The Beat.

This 30-minute United Way public service announcement put together by KFVS12 aired last year and is being shown again as part of the United Way campaign on the UPN channel. Since the program first aired, it garnered KFVS12 a Missouri Broadcasters Association award for broadcast excellence for a public service campaign and a certificate of merit from the Illinois Broadcasters Association.

"With as much effort that was put into it, we thought it could be used more than one year," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the United Way of Southeast Missouri. "We tried to make it really broad. The agencies that they visited are just really timeless."

According to Jernigan, part of the beauty of the program is its timelessness, as well as the way it gives viewers a glimpse into what the United Way does and the lives it affects.

"Get On the Bus" takes viewers on a bus tour along with hosts Jeff Cunningham and Amy Jacquin to four local agencies -- Boys and Girls Club of America, American Red Cross, the Cape Girardeau Senior Center and the SEMO Network Against Sexual Violence -- that are funded by the United Way of Southeast Missouri.

Along the tour, some personal stories are told in order to give a human face to the programs funded by the United Way, such as a woman who was sexually abused and was receiving assistance from the SEMO Network Against Sexual Violence.

"I think it shows how some specific agencies work to help the community with certain needs," Jernigan said.

Now is a good time for the re-air of the program because the United Way of Southeast Missouri is in the middle of its 2004 fund-raising campaign, which kicked off Aug. 26 and will continue until the end of the year with the goal of raising $1 million.

Although the campaign is hovering around $100,000 in money raised, Jernigan said that now is not a good time to look at the numbers because not all of the corporate campaigns have ended.

"It's doing very well," Jernigan said. "We're at the point in time when many of the campaigns are in progress and they all seem to be running very well. The ones that have finished have done better than they did last year."

"Get On the Bus" will air at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 p.m. Oct. 8 on UPN The Beat, channel 33.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182