The Hoisington United Way announced today at the Great Bend, Ellinwood and Hoisington Chamber Community Coffee in Hoisington that they will be merging with the United Way of Central Kansas to better serve their residents and community partners in the years to come. United Way of Central Kansas will now cover all of Barton County as well as Pawnee County.
Julie Bugner-Smith will continue to be the Executive Director of UWCK and Karen Van Brimmer and Bill Lowry will be joining the UWCK Board to represent Hoisington. Prior to this merger, UWCK covered Pawnee County along with Claflin, Ellinwood, and Great Bend.
The economic situation in our area prompted the idea to come together to better serve our communities. The process of this merger has been a thorough and thoughtful process led by members of both United Ways. By joining forces and pooling the talents and resources behind these two entities, we believe that we will be able to have a greater impact on all the communities. This will also take some of the burden off of the numerous agencies that were being funded by both United Ways. Rather than applying twice for funding, they only have to apply once and can put their time and energy into the work that makes a difference in our community.
Agencies that are funded by United Way will continue to receive their current level of funding with this merger.
“On behalf of the Board and myself we are thrilled about the merger and feel that this will be a positive impact to the Hoisington Community and are confident that United we can do great things together,” said Julie Bugner-Smith, Executive Director.
Agencies that will be funded by United Way of Central Kansas:
Barton County Youth Care
Barton County Young Men’s Organization
Caring Hands Daycare
Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas
Central Kansas CASA
Child Abuse Prevention Education
Commission on Aging-Hoisington
DARE Program-Hoisington
ElderCare, Inc.
Ellinwood Heritage Senior Center
FCC-Domestic & Sexual Violence Center
FCC-Dell Hayden Memorial Child Advocacy Center
Golden Belt Home Health & Hospice
Great Bend Children’s Learning Center
Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland
Habitat for Humanity
Hoisington Food Bank
Hoisington Historical Society
Meals on Wheels
Orphan Grain Train
RSVP/Volunteers in Action
Salvation Army
Teen Court
Toys for Tots
United Cerebral Palsy
Programs that are funded by United Way of Central Kansas:
Born Learning Trail-Claflin & Great Bend
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library-Ellinwood & Larned
Literacy Kits in all school districts, including Otis-Bison