United Way of Sumner County officially launched its 2018 fundraising campaign on Thursday evening, Sept. 6, at the Cliff & Dee Dee Ernst Classic Car Showroom in Hendersonville with our 2018 Campaign Kickoff presented by First Tennessee Bank. We were thrilled to have nearly 150 guests at this year's event, including incredible participation from our Board of Directors, former Board members, partner agencies, workplace campaigns, volunteers, and first-time United Way visitors.
Constantly changing weather conditions failed to dampen the spirit and excitement of our party, which included live music, great food, tours of Cliff Ernst's legendary collection of classic cars, all-new UWSC LIVE UNITED t-shirts, and a preview of our 2018 United Way campaign from UWSC Board Chair Lindy Gaughan, 2018 UWSC Campaign Chair Regina Bartlett, and UWSC Executive Director Steve Doremus.
Every aspect of this year's Campaign Kickoff was bigger and better than ever, following our mantra to Be Bold, Think Big, and Do More in 2018. We could not have accomplished this event without having a record-number of partners and participants for our Kickoff. In addition to all of our wonderful guests who took the time out of their busy schedules to join us, Thank You to each of the following partners for making our 2018 coming out party such a great success:
- First Tennessee Bank and Community Bank President Daisy Casey for being our Kickoff presenting sponsor for the sixth straight year;
- Cliff & Dee Dee Ernst for providing the venue and opening their car collection for viewing by our guests;
- Kingsford Charcoal and Angie Waller for sponsoring our t-shirts and providing charcoal for our grill;
- The TenneSeagulls for providing awesome music and a fun atmosphere for our guests;
- Ultimate Party Superstore for providing our tables and chairs:
- TriStar Health for providing our event tent;
- Publix Super Markets for providing our soft drinks, water, ice, and delicious United Way cake;
- Hendersonville First United Methodist Church for providing our grill and grillmasters for the evening;
- Mable McReynolds for photographically documenting our party; and
- All of our amazing volunteers, who kept things running smoothly despite unexpected schedule changes and fluid weather conditions.
Finally, thank you to the rest of our United Way Team - Chief Development Officer and Kickoff Maestro Erin Birch, Finance Manager Danielle Robinson, and Projects Coordinator Toni Dew. You ROCK! What a great start to our 2018 Campaign!
Thank you all for helping us LIVE UNITED!
- Steve Doremus