By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Once funds are raised through the United Way of Greater St. Joseph's annual fundraising drive.
Volunteers help allocate how much money is distributed between its 17 partner agencies. The United Way of Greater St. Joseph is currently seeking volunteers to help in this year's allocation process.
Director of Community Investment Jodi Flurry says each year United Way seeks between 150 to 180 volunteers for this process which may seem like a lot
"But when you're talking two and a half million dollars that the community has entrusted to United Way, thousands and thousands of donors, we want to make sure that we're accountable back to the community," Flurry tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "So that's why we try to recruit as many people as possible from high school students to senior citizens and retirees, and everybody in between, everybody has a perspective, everybody has a voice, and we want to incorporate that into the allocations process."
Volunteers will be split up into groups that will discuss and meet with three of the partner agencies to come to a decision on how funds should be used.
Flurry says what they want volunteers to look at is how a specific partner agency is impacting the community.
"That's what we want to invest in, that our community is a better place because of this partner agency, because of the use of United Way donor dollars into this agency," Flurry explains. "So, anyone can participate, and we have educators, attorneys, medical professionals, high school students, retirees, and truly everybody in between."
Flurry says there is even volunteer groups that meet in the evenings to allow those that work during the day to be able to volunteer if they wish.
Jodi Flurry says the hope is that as a volunteer learns more about these agencies, they become an advocate for them.
""So they go tell their friends about the work of this agency, but also they might become a volunteer for them, they might join the board of this agency and get involved because of what they've learned through the allocations process they want to be more invested in this organization to help it grow and serve more people," Flurry says.
To volunteer to assist with the allocations process you can click HERE.