United Way of Wyoming Valley President/CEO Bill Jones accepts the Key to the City from Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown Wednesday.
Submitted photo
Celebration mark’s group’s 100th anniversary
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In this photo from 1985, Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom McLaughlin and United Way annual campaign chair Chuck Parente hold the sign ‘United Way Drive’ to be placed on Public Square.
Submitted photo
The new ‘United Way Drive’ sign in downtown Wilkes-Barre is seen on Wednesday.
Submitted photo
WILKES-BARRE — United Way of Wyoming Valley President and CEO Bill Jones called it “a milestone moment in time.”
Jones was referring to the celebration Wednesday in recognition of the United Way of Wyoming Valley’s 100th anniversary.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown presented a “Key to the City” to Jones on Wednesday morning — recognition of all the hard work the United Way of Wyoming Valley has done over the past 100 years to strengthen the community and support those in need.
“We really appreciate this recognition and accept it on behalf of the tens of thousands of donors and volunteers and dozens of partner agencies who have all given generously and worked diligently to improve our community over the past 100 years,” Jones said.
As the United Way of Wyoming Valley kicks off its 100th anniversary campaign, the presentation happened under a United Way Drive street sign on Public Square.
The street sign is a throwback to the late ’70s through the early ’90s when it was common to rename the streets around Public Square in support of the United Way’s annual drive. The street is temporarily named “United Way Drive.” It will remain that until mid0December when the annual campaign ends.
Mayor Brown is a long-time supporter of the United Way of Wyoming Valley and he encourages support of the campaign.
Jones said the United Way of Wyoming Valley is an organization whose mission is to bring together individuals and businesses in our area, help them invest in our community, and in turn, make it stronger.
“Our goal is to create a movement that engages all of us to bring passion, creativity, and philanthropy to the fight against childhood poverty,” Jones said.
The United Way annual campaign runs until mid-December.
Jones said there are three different ways to give to this year’s 100th anniversary campaign for the United Way of Wyoming Valley:
• Donate at — unitedwaywb.org/donate.
• Send a check to the office at — 100 North Pennsylvania Ave., 2nd Floor Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701.
• Text the word “Support” to the number 26989.
Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.