By Cindy Fink

Special to the Salisbury Post

Meals on Wheels of Rowan joined the Rowan County United Way just days before the first official meals were delivered in August of 1976.

Recently, Wayne Mullis shared with me that in the early ’70s, his church was preparing and delivering meals in Salisbury. Caring for others and making sure that no one goes hungry is a Rowan community value and tradition.

Over the years, the Rowan County United Way raised funds to be allocated to member agencies and special programs. Meals on Wheels Rowan has received an allocation for United Way for 42 years.

The Rowan County United Way is moving toward a new model of funding over the next two years. The upcoming community needs assessment will give direction to funding priorities in the future.

When given the opportunity to participate in a focus group or survey, please remember that the number of seniors in our community is growing. And homebound seniors are in a special category. Homebound seniors cannot stand in line at food pantries and they often have difficulty preparing nutritious meals for themselves.

When the community needs assessment is complete, it is entirely possible that the opioid crisis facing Rowan County may be identified as the No. 1 funding priority. If that is the case, Meals on Wheels will not come forward with a program that offers a solution, because this is not our mission. We will continue to deliver nutritious meals, friendly greetings and safety checks for homebound seniors and disabled citizens. As more seniors want to age in the place of their choosing, the demand for our services grows. We will not go away because we are not the No. 1 priority.

The same is true for many other agencies that are currently funded in part by United Way. The current member agencies understand that a community needs assessment is a valuable tool, and other groups or agencies will come forward with requests for funding because they have the solutions to meet priority needs in our community.

But just because a needs assessment identifies the “crisis du jour” it does not mean that our seniors disappear, or that people don’t go hungry or that our youth don’t need positive youth development activities or families in crisis don’t need support or that children at risk don’t need help at school, or that adults don’t need to learn to read or that many other programs don’t need funding.

Our community is lucky to have had the leadership and fundraising capacity of the Rowan County United Way for so many years. As United Way moves to a new model, our community must understand that the so-called “traditional United Way agencies” will continue to need your support both through United Way and through your direct giving.

Some individuals decline to give to United Way because they want their dollars to go directly to the agency of their choice. But, why not support both agencies? The United Way volunteers review agency financials, audits, budgets and plans to ensure that our United Way gifts are used in the way in which they were intended. United Way is a good steward of our gifts.

When it comes to the highest priority needs in our community, citizens may not know the organization that can do the best job in a specific area of need, but someone in Rowan County needs to help us move forward in finding solutions.

That someone is the Rowan County United Way.

Cindy Fink is executive director Meals on Wheels of Rowan Inc., a Rowan County United Way member agency.