United Way Brings Community Together Virtually to Celebrate its 98th Annual Meeting

Left: United Way Tagline “LIVE UNITED” written in blocks in line with theme of “Building a Legacy of Giving”
Middle: United Way Staff “Studio” for Event Broadcasting
Right: Paul Sullivan, United Way Community Speaker Screenshot from Zoom Presentation
 
BRIDGEWATER- On June 10th, over 100 guests gathered virtually for United Way of Greater Plymouth County’s 98th Annual Meeting & Awards Celebration.
 
“We knew that it would not be possible for us to safely meet in person for this year's event due to COVID-19, but felt it was very important that we come together as we do each year to share an uplifting program in line with this year’s theme of ‘Building a Legacy of Giving’” Dennis Carman, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Plymouth County said.  “We so appreciate the unwavering support and unity of our community during this unique and challenging time.  All ticket sales are going directly to our LIVE UNITED fund. We are thrilled to celebrate the work of our 98th year of uniting people, ideas and resources to improve the lives of people in Greater Plymouth County, and look forward to working together with our partners during the coming year to tackle our community’s urgent needs as we pivot from emergency response to longer term recovery.”
 
This year’s event sponsors were Bridgewater Savings Bank and Lynch & Lynch Attorneys.  Our community speaker was Paul Sullivan, Vice President of Marketing at Sullivan Tire.  Mr. Sullivan share the incredible history of his family’s business as well as the current work done by the Sullivan Tire team in their role of community champions building an enduring legacy of kindness.  
United Way’s 98th Annual Meeting was also a celebration of this year’s United Way campaign to raise funds for critical local needs.  Rockland Trust received the Circle of Caring Chairman’s Award for its success in making a significant contribution to the LIVE UNITED Fund, undesignated funds given to our local United Way so that volunteers from our community can distribute them to meet the most urgent needs.  Rockland Trust also received awards for largest campaign increase and largest employee campaign.
 
Other Circle of Caring Awardees were HarborOne Bank for largest corporate gift, HarborOne Bank for largest campaign increase to the LIVE UNITED fund, and Signature Healthcare for best nonprofit campaign.  Corporate Champion for Change Awards were given to Bridgewater Savings Bank and Rexa, Inc.
 
Jim Smith and Evalina Lawson of Rockland Trust, Marie Kelly of Stonehill College, and Palmina Aprino of Rexa Inc. received awards in recognition of their significant contributions to the United Way campaign at their respective companies.
 
A Community Impact Award was given to the Massachusetts Department of Children & Families for the many positive ways in which they make a difference in our community, especially their creation of Family Resource Centers and Community Connection Initiatives throughout the Commonwealth, including United Way’s Family Center at Community Connections of Brockton.
In recognition of their inspirational volunteering for United Way and for the community, Heather Arrighi and Ines Figueroa received United Way’s Community Spirit Award for 2020.
This year’s Profile in Courage Award was not given any specific individual, but rather United Way of Greater Plymouth County wanted to acknowledge all of the heroes in our community so the award was given to all of our “Caring Neighbors in Greater Plymouth County”.
 
The event recording and photos may be found at www.facebook.com/uwgpc.

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About United Way of Greater Plymouth County
Established in 1922, United Way of Greater Plymouth County’s mission is “We unite people, ideas and resources to improve the lives of people in Greater Plymouth County.”  Our efforts are instrumental in making Greater Plymouth County a safe, healthy and well-educated community in which people's needs are met effectively, respectfully and compassionately by focusing our resources on addressing the vital and interconnected needs of education, health and income.  United Way serves the communities of southeastern Massachusetts, including the city of Brockton and the towns of Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Kingston, Lakeville, Marshfield, Middleboro, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rockland, Stoughton, West Bridgewater, and Whitman.