United Way of the Flint Hills Executive Director Daphne Mertens kept specifics tight-lipped, but says the 2025-26 United Way Campaign is going strong in an update on the subject during KVOE’s Talk of Emporia Tuesday morning.
This year’s $500,000 goal is the same as the prior year’s campaign, which managed to exceed that goal by roughly $10,000. Mertens says, like the previous year, several businesses and individuals have continued to step up and increase support, pointing specifically to Simmons Pet Foods, which had its second straight record-setting workplace campaign last year, bringing in a total of just over $64,700.
Mertens says a lot of the success has to do with the messaging coming from the United Way, donors and Campaign Chair Yahaira Ibarra.
Mertens says they are hopeful that they will again exceed their fundraising goal this year, noting the campaign comes at a time when new needs have arisen for the local community as well as new responsibilities for the agency itself, pointing specifically to Abundant Grace, which is the predecessor to Abundant Harvest. As KVOE News has reported over the past several months, the United Way, in partnership with the city of Emporia, teamed with Grace United Methodist Church at the end of last year to take over operations for the food kitchen, which was on the verge of closing last October.
Since that time, Mertens says operations are going well, and the commitment from the city and United Way will enable it be able to operate for at least the next six months; however, they are currently focused on making the food kitchen self-sustainable for the foreseeable future.
For those who have yet to contribute to the annual campaign, there is still plenty of time to do so either by going online to Unitedwayoftheflinthills.org or by participating in the annual KVOE Live Morning Drive Radio Auction, which is scheduled to be held on KVOE’s Airwaves March 1st through the 6th.
For more information or updates on the United Way, visit Unitedwayoftheflinthills.org or call their offices at 620-342-7564.
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By: Tagan Trahoon
February 3rd, 2023 | 1:01 PM