Becky Goff, left, and Carol Berry, right (Brittany Howell for The Cullman Tribune)
Becky Goff has been the executive director of the United Way of Cullman County since Oct 1, 2018. I had never met Becky until she came to do our interview, but four hours later, I felt I’d made a new friend. Her excitement and love for her new position were apparent in the first 10 minutes.
The United Way organization has been a part of Becky’s life since 1989, after she did an internship with it in college. After that she was hooked on one of the oldest nonprofit organizations in the world. The United Way began in 1894 as the vision of a woman, a rabbi and a priest. They saw the need to organize all the different entities trying to provide help to others. They made sure they were legitimate and that the money donated went to the people, not into the pockets of the person over the entity. United Way continues to do this today.
Local organizations interested in applying for funding need to be registered health and human service 501(c)(3)s, provide services in Cullman County and have a board of directors.
Volunteers from United Way participate in the reviewing and approval of all funding requests. Every year, local nonprofit agencies submit their applications to United Way to request funding for their programs. The applications include everything from detailed budgets and numbers of clients served to assessments of the programs’ impact in our community and details about the demographics of the people served. When you give to United Way, you never have to wonder if the money was used wisely or actually went those in need.
United Way of Cullman County will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Wow, 40 years of service to our community! I could not get all the services into one interview, so look for multiple interviews and stories about United Way and Mrs. Goff. Listening to the vision Becky has and how she intends to implement it in the next five years was exhilarating. Our community will benefit from her experience and devotion to her plan. She knows what United Way is capable of and wants to give Cullman all it has to offer.
She said multiple times, “This is not my United Way, but YOUR United Way.”
I encourage us all to let that statement sink in….WE make United Way work! United Way is a volunteer-driven program. The budget that Mrs. Goff, and others before her, operates on is very slim.
Becky said, “We don’t need a big staff. If we keep that cost low, we are able to help more people.”
The administrative budget at the Cullman County United Way has not increased in 18 years. This is amazing.
Please watch our interview this week (Tuesday at www.Facebook.com/CullmanTribune) and look at the United Way of Cullman County’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/uwaycc.org) and website (www.uwaycc.org). There are so many services, I cannot list them all.
If you are looking for a place to volunteer and truly make a difference, give Becky a call at 256-739-2948. Or go by and see her at 304 First Ave. NE, Cullman at the Old Train Depot.
If you are a nonprofit in Cullman, reach out to Becky to see how you can partner with United Way.
United Way’s Young Professional Board is hosting its third annual crawfish boil on April 27 at Goat Island Brewing. Come join the fun and support a good cause. Ticket information will be available on Facebook.
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