By Deseray McKinzy

United Way of Southeast Arkansas is hosting its annual meeting Thursday, April 29th at 4 p.m. at the Community Theater at 207 2nd & Pines and it is open to the public. United Way will be announcing how their campaign has gone over the last year and they will also be installing seven new board members.

Those new board members include Steven Shaner, Chris Reed, Daryl Scott, Ulanda Arnett, Ethan Harris, Carlton Saffa, and Matt Dedman.

The United Way of Southeast Arkansas is locally funded and autonomous, existing to ensure that as many as possible of our community’s charitable dollars reach areas of greatest need. The organization has an allocation team which will now be known as IMPACT, which handles the funds that get distributed to particular agencies. Leslie Dorn the Executive Director of United Way in SEARK further explained their process and their need for volunteers,

Ultimately, the Board of Directors makes the decision on where funds are distributed after the recommendations have been considered on all levels of the organization. The agency currently has 21 agencies that are a part of United Way and in the next year, they are open to establishing more.

More important information will be discussed at their annual meeting, Dorn said.