Open Office

I guess you could say that today we officially opened our office. Four of the local Chambers of Commerce came by with their scissors and we cut the ribbon on our new regional main office.


The City of Lowell also came by to give us a key to the city. We are so happy to be a part of this city, and look forward to getting to know it better as we continue to settle in. But we haven't forgotten about the communities where we moved our offices from, and truly feel that we are now at a hub that will make it easier to reach out to our entire region.


We had a great turnout. More than 50 people ranging from Chamber representatives, community supporters, long-time donors and friends of United Way attended the event which also served as a farewell to our long-time friend and colleague, Linda Brown.

Linda will be leaving us to pursue other opportunities, but before she does that, she is going to travel around the country to visit her family. We wish Linda all the best and are so appreciative for all she did to help bring the United Way of Northwest Arkansas into fruition.

We wish that all of you could have been there (although, we might need to talk to the City of Lowell about building a parking deck near us if we have too many more of these events). We understand, though, that you can't always make it out to our events, but we hope that if you are in the area (or need a rest stop as you pass exit 78 on 540) that you come by and visit us.

We have been busy the last few weeks, but thankfully we are over our busiest hump in the "non-busy" season. We have some exciting things in store in the coming months, and we can't wait to share them with you.

Masons Presents How to Live United

Let me start off with saying, last night was simply amazing!! If you weren't there, you missed a great show of individuals from the community showing their style in a Masons special edition Live United shirt, but most importantly, the models showed that it's stylish to support your community.

Models arrived early to the event to get their hair and make-up done by the stylists at Pink Papaya. We also had some volunteers who came early to lend an extra pair of hands to ensure the event was ready when guests started arriving at 6 p.m.

When guests arrived, they were encouraged to pledge to Live United by writing their pledge down and having their picture taken holding that pledge. Also as guests arrived they were treated to a plethora of sights, sounds and smells.

As soon as you walked in you could see items that were up for silent auction which were framed by the beautiful decorations provided by Masons, Festivites and Jules Designs.


As you walked around a distinct aroma filled the air from the delicious appetizers that were courtesy of Tyson's, Chef Mario Valdevinos and the First Security Bank Teal Grill Team. Once you grabbed a plate of the delicious h'or dourves, Beyond the Bar was set up to serve people their choice of beverage including the events signature beverage imagined by Tyson Corporate Chef David Jeeter.

The highlight of the evening, though, was of course the fashion show! We had nearly 40 models showing off how they Live United, and each brought a bit of their personality to the runway as Dana Sargent of Fox 24 shared with all the attendees how our models Live United everyday.


The evening ended with several people going home with the fantastic silent auction items donated by various local vendors.

We hope to repeat this event in the coming years, and hope that next year you can join us once again as we show how fashionable it can be to Live United.

Day of Caring 2008

On April 17 we had a busy day here at United Way of Northwest Arkansas! We had more than 750 people from organizations across the community volunteering their time to projects for more than 80 non-profits throughout Northwest Arkansas.

That was an incredible show of community support!

Also, on that day we launched a new message called "Live United".

Live United is a credo, a mission, and a goal. It's a constant reminder that when we as individuals think outside ourselves, we have the power to facilitate change. When we think of others lives as linked to our own, our compassion grows. When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the condition of all. We build the strength of our neighborhoods. We bolster the health of our communities. And we change the lives of those who walk by us every day.

More, Live United is a command. To give. To advocate. To volunteer. Because united, we stand. United, we elevate. United, we persevere. United, we move through, above, and beyond. United, we can change what we see in our world.

The Live United message is one about the power of unity and how reaching out a hand to one can influence the condition of all.

Here, in this blog, the United Way wants to keep you informed about people in the community and how they are "Living United". Whether it's someone who is giving money, lending their voice, or lending a hand, we want you to know that not only is it easy, but it's possible for you to make a difference everyday in our community.

Below, we want to celebrate the first to embrace the idea of Live United, and say thank you to all of the teams who participated in Day of Caring. By each of them reaching out their hand to help, they made our community better by strengthening a non-profits ability to help those who need it most in Northwest Arkansas.