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WILKES-BARRE — The Berwick Area United Way will officially merge with the United Way of Wyoming Valley with a few signatures on a document Thursday.

Under the merger agreement, Berwick Area United Way will become a division of United Way of Wyoming Valley. Details of the merger will be released at that time.

Bill Jones, president/CEO of United Way of Wyoming Valley, said the move has been in the works for several months. He said it was approved by the Berwick Area board of directors Monday and will be voted on by the Wyoming Valley board Thursday.

Basically, Jones said the Berwick Area United Way will become a division of the Wyoming Valley organization.

“I believe this is a very progressive step into the future and any time like-minded organizations can come together and reduce administrative costs so that our limited resources could be best used to serve the community, it is a very positive step,” Jones said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to a good board discussion tomorrow and looking forward to our future in partnership with the United Way efforts in Berwick.”

According to a recent story in the Press Enterprise newspaper, the Berwick Area United Way board voted 26-0 Monday to approve the merger.

The paper’s report stated the Berwick Area agency was faced with declining donations, making its future uncertain without the move.

The report further states that under the agreement, the much larger United Way of Wyoming Valley will handle administrative tasks for Berwick as well as fundraising.

Jones said the agreement states that all money raised in the Berwick area, which is made up of municipalities in the Berwick Area School District, must be spent to support programs in and around Berwick.

The official document signing will take place at the United Way of Wyoming Valley Board Room, 100 N. Pennsylvania Ave., 2nd Floor, Wilkes-Barre.

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By Bill O’Boyle

[email protected]

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.