United Way Celebrates Volunteers

unitedwayswm2-3
unitedwayswm2-3

The United Way of Southwest Michigan is honoring local organizations that have helped it throughout the year with its annual Celebration Awards. Campaign Director Charlotte Becker tells WSJM News the awards are with a twist this year.

“We decided to seek feedback from the winners just to see how they’d feel about us using some of our sponsorship funds earmarked for the event to put toward a community initiative instead of the awards, and the response was incredibly supportive of this,” Becker said.

Normally, they would hold an event and give physical awards to everyone. This year, they’re sending winners a certificate and using the money that otherwise would have been spent to donate to the Southwest Michigan Emergency Response Fund. Becker says a variety of organizations received awards this year.

“The awards every year are to recognize individuals and companies who are helping support our annual campaign as well as create an impact in our communities.”

The winners are grouped into several categories. The United Way is asking winners to photograph or video themselves opening their certificate and then post the images to social media, tagging UWSM and using the hashtag “UWSMCelebration.” They have also put up a website for the winners at UWSM.org/Celebration.