United is a way of living for the Mat-Su

For those of us who love this time of year, autumn in Alaska means back to school, shorter days, cooler temperatures, harvest meals and winterizing your yard. It is also means campaign time for the United Way.

This year the United Way of Mat-Su is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Two decades ago, the United Way of Mat-Su grew out of the concerns of many community residents and leaders to find an effective way to meet Mat-Su Borough needs in providing health, welfare and other services to the community. It was determined a local United Way organization would be the most effective way to address the community needs with local dollars supporting local services.

Like all things here in the Valley, the United Way of Mat-Su has evolved over the past 20 years. Our mission is to develop community pride and promote a greater sense of self-reliance through the organized efforts to care for our neighbors. We see a community where compassion, generosity and stewardship are intrinsic values.

As a community impact organization, UWMSB strives to improve the health and quality of life of our Borough’s residents by bringing together the people and resources to address community concerns and issues in a measurable way, to provide a network of care through our member agencies, and by linking donors to issues they are concerned about. Besides its annual fundraising campaign and fund allocation program, UWMSB directs the Federal Emergency Management Agency Food and Shelter Program, the Sr. Farmers Market Nutrition Program, sponsors the Dorothy Jones Volunteer Award and partners to host the Mat-Su Health Fair, Leadership Mat-Su, Mat-Su Youth United and Week of Caring events.

We see ourselves as a community impact organization that invests in strategies to improve the lives of people in the Mat-Su Borough. In addition to funding partner agencies, we work as a community leader in convening diverse groups of organizations to focus resources and create lasting change throughout the Mat-Su.

To illustrate this, the United Way of Mat-Su held its Substance Abuse Prevention Summit last year with community leaders and stakeholders formulating the Mat-Su Anti-Substance Abuse Coalition comprised of five task forces. We also had more than 35 stakeholders sign a memorandum of understanding to support this initiative at a joint meeting of the Wasilla and Palmer chambers of commerce. The task force committees formed from this summit include Community Advocacy/Social Marketing, Coordinated Community Response, Data, Public Education and Initiatives. This coalition set out to develop and implement a comprehensive, multi-faceted plan to measurably reduce per capita substance abuse in the Mat-Su Borough over the next decade.

To make an impact, we need financial support from you, the community. Our goal is to make the United Way of Mat-Su a million-dollar organization. Workplace campaigns are the best way to support us. It is easy to give through payroll deduction. You can make your pledges weekly, monthly, quarterly or all at once. You can have it deducted from your check or you can use your debit/credit card to make an annual gift. However you choose, you can be assured that your contribution is making an impact on lives here in the Mat-Su. Celebrate 20 years. Impact the next 20.

Stephanie L. Allen is executive director for United Way of Mat-Su.