Tornado Recovery Fund

UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL GEORGIA AND THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL GEORGIA ESTABLISH CENTRAL GEORGIA TORNADO RECOVERY FUND

United Way of Central Georgia and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia established The Central Georgia Tornado Recovery Fund to assist tornado victims in Central Georgia with their long-term recovery needs. “The volunteer Boards of each of our organizations recognize that many of the tornado victims will have significant needs in the months ahead as they try to put their lives back together,” said David Lanier, regional president for the BB&T Mid-South Georgia Region and board chair of United Way of Central Georgia. “I am pleased to report that United Way and The Community Foundation have joined forces to establish this Fund, and each organization has contributed $25,000 to the Fund. I’m also pleased to announce that BB&T and BB&T Insurance is contributing $25,000 to the Fund because we strongly believe this is the most effective way for us to directly help tornado victims with their longer-term needs. We encourage other corporations and individuals throughout Central Georgia to join with us in this effort by contributing to the Fund,” added Lanier.

United Way of Central Georgia serves as the fiscal agent for the Fund, and representatives from United Way, The Community Foundation of Central Georgia and other community leaders serve on a committee that oversees the distribution of funds to assist tornado victims. “100% of the funds will be spent to meet the recovery needs of tornado victims who need our help most,” said Ron Watson, president & CEO of United Way of Central Georgia. “United Way’s Board of Trustees is committed to covering all administrative costs from United Way’s emergency reserves. Our goal is to get people the help they need as quickly as humanly possible,” added Watson.

United Way of Central Georgia has been busy distributing monies from the Fund.  To date, the Fund has collected $120,000 and just recently received an additional $100,000 from the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Southern Georgia Storm Recovery Fund. United Way has purchased more than $19,000 worth of debit cards and vendor cards so far from Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Kroger, and others, and is distributing them to qualified victims of the storms. As of today, we have distributed more than $15,000 to storm victims.

The Recovery Fund Committee is continuing to handle cases as they come in and hope to process all the requests for assistance in the next couple of months.

Questions regarding the Fund should be directed to Tammie Collins, executive vice president of community impact for United Way of Central Georgia at 745-4732, ext. 103, or email her at tcollins@unitedwaycg.com.