By By Adam Prestridge
If you're a local business owner, employee of a local business or just simply an Atmore supporter your help is needed.
If you've received a United Fund of Atmore pledge card, take the minute it will take to fill out and drop it in the mailbox. It's a simple way for you to say that you did your part in helping Atmore grow.
According to United Fund president Shep Marsh, the first month of the campaign has been slow.
"It's not going well," he said. "We're a month into it and we've got a little over a third of our goal. There are still a number of traditionally large contributors that we haven't heard from. Hopefully, as we near Thanksgiving, we will be where we want to be."
Without funding from the United Fund several agencies in Atmore and Escambia County would not be able to provide assistance and benefits they offer. Agencies such as the American Red Cross and Christian Care Ministries submit a request for financial assistance each year during the month of July. A determination of how much money each agency receives is made based on how much money is raised.
"It's varying degrees of percentage of revenue from the different agencies, but it is critical to every one of them" Marsh said during the September kickoff luncheon.
This year the United Fund's goal is $75,000.
"Fortunately we have been able to approve," Marsh said. "What we're going to be able to fund next year is completely dependent on how much we're able to raise with this drive."
So far, United Fund has raised $28,000.