When my family and I moved from Kansas City to Shawnee in 2006, we were excited to start a new chapter in our lives, but also a little nervous. We were leaving the ambience of a big city in exchange for life in a smaller town. Our initial thoughts were no Super Target and no Kansas City Chiefs football. However, upon arrival in Shawnee, these thoughts quickly vanished and both my wife and I were able to get quickly involved in our new town.
Now several years have past and I look back at how our lives have changed. We have grown as a family and have been blessed with great friends.
I look back from time to time and try to determine what makes Shawnee different from the other places that we have lived and why was the transition from Kansas City to Shawnee easy. What is most apparent to me are the people of Shawnee and their willingness to give and support each other every day. You can see that support shining through in the works of the American Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boy Scouts, CampFire, C.A.R.E, Faith 7, Family Promise, Family Resource Center of Seminole, Gateway, Girls Scouts, Heartline 211, Legal Aid Services, Mission Shawnee, Pottawatomie County 4-H, Project Safe, R.S.V.P., Success by 6, the Salvation Army, Volunteer Health Center, YMCA and Youth and Family. These are all agencies supported by United Way dollars.
United Way is a significant thread in the fabric of this community. The United Way lives to match community dollars with those agencies that provide support and services to individuals in our community that need assistance. We are fortunate to have the presence of United Way and its great staff in our community. The United Way works hard to ensure that a strong and vibrant support system is in place to help those that may need a little assistance from time to time.
As we embark on a new United Way campaign, we need your support to ensure that our network of agencies stays complete and ready to serve. While you may not need the services of a United Way agency today, who knows what tomorrow will bring. Maybe you or one of your loved ones will need the support of a United Way agency. We can only ensure that the support is there tomorrow by giving a little bit today.
We need your support and I would like to invite you, your family and co-workers to the United Way Karaoke Kick-off on Sept. 17 at 4 p.m. at the Shawnee Expo Conference Center.
Editor’s Note: This guest editorial is offered by Casey Bell. He is this year’s drive chairman of the United Way Campaign. The views expressed by our guest editorialists and guest columnists are theirs, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the News-Star’s management.
