HISTORY OF THE UNITED WAY OF WEST GEORGIA, INC.

 August 23, 1957 was a very important day in the LaGrange community. It was on that day that Georgia Secretary of State Ben Fortson signed the document incorporating the “United Fund Appeal, Inc.” The original Board of Trustees was J.K. Boatwright, Jr., C.W. Curry, Alvin B. Davis, John A. Holmes, B.A. Lancaster, Glenn M. Simpson, Harry R. Spikes, John Swiatek, Frank Tigner, William P. Trotter, B.W. Whorton and Richard W. Wolfe. The first Executive Director was Robert D. Brawner.

In the petition to the Superior Court of Troup County, the original object and purpose of the organization was to:

“Unite the efforts of all persons contributing to social, charitable and beneficent purposes or organizations, to co-ordinate the efforts of individuals and agencies in the solicitation and administration of funds and property for such purposes.”

 According to the minutes of the October 7, 1958 meeting, written by secretary/treasurer J.K. Boatwright, the agencies first approved to be part of The United Fund Appeal were:

Pine Valley Girl Scout Council
LaGrange Welfare Association
State YMCA of Georgia (Hi-Y & Tri Hi-Y)
Camp Viola
Maidee Smith Memorial Nursery
West Georgia Council, Inc., Boy Scouts of America
Georgia Heart Association, Inc.
The Harbor, Inc.
LaGrange Area Chapter, Georgia Association of Retarded Children
Troup County Chapter, The American Red Cross
United Service Organizations (USO), Inc.
The Georgia Association for Mental Health, Inc.
The Georgia Society for Crippled Children

 On the sixth day of October, 1978 the name of the organization changed from the United Funds Appeal, Inc. to United Way of the LaGrange Area. Ben Fortson was still the Secretary of State, and signed the official document. By that point the board had grown to 25 members. The Chairman of the Board was Dr. S.C. Rainey, and Gail J. Hunnicutt was Secretary of the Board.

The most recent  name change came on November 11, 1990 when then Secretary of State Max Cleland signed the official document changing the name of the organization from the United Way of the LaGrange Area to the present name, the United Way of West Georgia, Inc. Today, the by-laws of the UWWG call for 30 board members, serving three-year staggered terms. Bill Martin is the Chairman of the Board for 2007, Jim Thornton is Campaign Chairman and Patty Youngblood is Executive Director.

See the Our Agencies page on this Web site for a list of our current agencies.