TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The United Way of the Big Bend kicked off its 2026 campaign on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
The United Way, which funds dozen of nonprofits, is asking the community to keep showing up for families who are struggling.<\/p>\n
More than 400 people packed the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center for the United Way\u2019s annual meeting. <\/p>\n
The organization has helped 88,000 people in the past two years and CEO Bernice Cox said need is growing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing more and more need from our ALICE neighbors in our eight county region. I predict that\u2019s going to increase, and I\u2019m not the expert in that, but I think our economists are predicting that as well, that we\u2019re going to see an increase in need and that means we\u2019re going to need to raise dollars to fund the programs we\u2019ve been funding and maybe add additional programs,\u201d Cox said.<\/p>\n
Cox revealed 54% of residents in Leon and seven neighboring counties are now either living in poverty or living paycheck to paycheck. <\/p>\n
The United Way also honored Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare CEO and longtime board member Mark O\u2019Bryant with its annual Legacy Award.<\/p>\n
The UWBB also announced that journalist Sheinelle Jones would be the guest speaker at its upcoming Women\u2019s Leadership breakfast. <\/p>\n
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