The Salina Area United Way has picked a group of local non-profit agencies as 2022-2023 Funded Partners.

According to the agency, nine local nonprofit community organizations were chosen as Funded Partners. They include:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina
• Ashby House
• Prairieland Market
• Salina Child Care Association
• Central Kansas Mental Health Center
• Salina Family YMCA
• Child Advocacy & Parenting Services
• Pawnee Mental Health Services
• Boy Scouts of America Coronado Area Council

“We have been working on returning to Funded Partners for the past year and a half. This is going to make a huge impact on these agencies and the services they provide to our Salina community,” says Claire Ludes, Executive Director for the Salina Area United Way. “We have steadily increased fundraising for the past 2.5 years I have been Executive Director and now I believe this return allows us to take it even further and truly support these agencies in all that they do.”

Salina Area United Way will be kicking off the 2022-2023 Campaign season with a revamped version of their Campaign Kick-Off Event, United Happy Hour, on Thursday, September 22 from 4pm-7pm at United Capital Management of Kansas’s new event space: The Sullivan in Downtown Salina.

Kick-Off is a big annual event for the United Way that kicks off the start of the Campaign season, raising dollars for local nonprofit organizations in our community.

This year, the Salina Area United Way is excited to announce that thanks to an incredibly generous donation by Richard and Sallie Morrison, there will be $25,000 in matching funds to share with the nine Funded Partners throughout the three-hour United Happy Hour event. This means that when community members attended the event on Thursday, September 22 and make a donation to the 2022-2023 Campaign or turn in their Workplace Campaign pledge form, their donation will be matched, up to 50%, to make an even greater impact on the nine Funded Partners and the community as a whole.

“We are so grateful for the generosity of both Richard and Sallie Morrison and their dedication to giving back to our local nonprofit organizations, says MacKenzie Morris, Director of Marketing and Grants at Salina Area United Way. “This donation is pivotal to the overall mission of Salina Area United Way’s return to Funded Partners and the nine incredible nonprofits that it creates huge impact for.”

This year will be the biggest Kick-Off event to date. United Happy Hour will be a happy hour style event, including music, a cash bar, pizza donated by Gambinos Pizza, a dunk tank competition for Funded Partners to win extra cash for their organization donated by Equity
Bank, nonprofit booths set up to learn more about the great work the nine Funded Partners are doing in the community, and a giveaway of Brett Young tickets, donated by The Stiefel Theatre, for attendees at the event.

For more information about Salina Area United Way’s 2022-2023 Funded Partners or the United Happy Hour Campaign Kick-Off event visit www.unitedwaysalina.org, or contact the Salina Area United Way office at 785-827-1312