By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
During its annual meeting, the United Way of Greater St. Joseph celebrated outgoing board members, and announced the new chair of the board of directors
After serving last year as vice chair under Phil Gould, Michelle Clark has been chosen to chair the board in 2025.
Clark says she's been with the United Way for six years and is excited to take on a leadership role and really work to support the board
"We have some phenomenal board members coming on and really sad to see those that are leaving, but excited to see the heartbeat of the community really come together in that board capacity and how can we leverage some of those experiences, those expertise in a way to move the community forward," Clark tells reporters. "We have a lot going on in St. Joe and I'm really excited for United Way to be a part of it."
During the annual meeting United Way officials gave an overview of 2024 and recognized several former board members who retired.
Clark says as the new chair her role when it comes to capital campaign United Way hosts each fall is to support those that work in the background of the campaign
"Just figuring out how can I help them in any capacity," Clark explains. "How can I rally volunteers, how can I help organizations make that connection, so really it's just whatever they need I want to be their person."
The fundraising campaign each fall helps raise money to support United Ways 17 partner agencies around St. Joseph.
Clark says coming up this year from United Way is the return of one program, as well as a new volunteer opportunity
"We're going to bring back Taste of United Way, it's a great way for the community to get to know us while eating food, it's perfect," Clark says. "And then we're also going to pilot a program called 'The Caring Power of Community', working title but basically it's another volunteer opportunity for our community to get involved in United Way with other items besides the usual volunteer opportunities."
Several St. Joseph businesses and supporters of United Way gathered at the Restoration Church in downtown St. Joseph for the meeting.
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