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  • Groundbreaking for Crawford County Office for United Way of Fort Smith

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    Groundbreaking for Crawford County Office for United Way of Fort Smith

    The Van Buren Chamber of Commerce hosted  a ceremony to welcome the newest addition to downtown Van Buren.  Strategic Reality and the United Way of Fort Smith Area formally announced the groundbreaking  of the Crawford County office for United Way of Fort Smith Area. The event took place at 808 Main St. in Van Buren on August 25th at 10:30 am. 

    “Having a physical presence in Crawford County has been a goal of United Way for some time”, stated Eddie Lee Herndon, President and CEO of United Way of Fort Smith Area.” Herndon added, “In addition to our home office in Fort Smith, we will now have a satellite office in Van Buren. Much of our work is in Crawford County working with agencies and clients especially the Boys and Girls Club of Van Buren, Abilities Unlimited, Crawford County Senior Citizens, Stepping Stone, Boys and Girls Club of the Diamond Hills, our public schools, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, and others. We are grateful to Jim Petty for the opportunity to lease a beautiful property in the heart of the city.”

    Jim Petty of Strategic Realty commented, “The United Way has been a tremendous, long-time partner with Van Buren and Crawford County and we are very excited to have them become a part of what is going on in our historic downtown Van Buren.”

    United Way recently received a grant from the State of Arkansas to grow the 100 Families program in Sebastian County and expand into Crawford, Pulaski and White counties. The new office will be the home base for Crawford County 100 Families Coordinator, Charlotte Douglas. “We feel very blessed to have received a grant to expand our 100 Families Program into Crawford County and be able to hire Charlotte Douglas as our Crawford County Coordinator. Charlotte brings many years of experience as a long time citizen, teacher, former state representative, and volunteer of Crawford County. Charlotte will coordinate the program out of the office in Van Buren.

    Douglas added, “100 Families was born from Governor Hutchinson’s Restore Hope Initiative. It was the Governors vision that communities collaborate to serve families in crisis. United Way has a similar mission and thanks to Jim Petty, Main Street will be the ideal place to begin this program in Crawford County.”

    About the United Way of Fort Smith Area:  The United Way of Fort Smith Area has been connecting people with resources in the River Valley since 1928. Their coverage area includes Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas and LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma.

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