Volunteers get involved with United Way through many different avenues.
For United Way of Sumner County Board Member Clayton Hannah it began through his employer, Volunteer State Bank in Portland.
“The bank has always done a workplace campaign which is how I became familiar with the United Way,” said Clayton, who is a senior vice president and relationship manager at the bank.
A United Way workplace campaign allows businesses to support the work of United Way by educating their employees about our organization’s mission and then giving employees the opportunity to donate through payroll deductions.
After Clayton learned how United Way works and about our efforts to improve the lives of our Sumner County neighbors in need he decided to do more.
Clayton, currently in his second year as a United Way board member, has been actively involved in raising awareness about United Way and recruiting new businesses to financially support our work.
He has done that in several different ways.
Clayton serves on our golf committee which plans and coordinates the United Way of Sumner County Fall Classic – our annual fundraising golf scramble. He has volunteered at the scramble, played on a team, and recruited new sponsors to support the scramble.
He also has been instrumental in helping support our annual fundraising Gala, and Volunteer State Bank has been a sponsor at this signature fundraising event for the past two years.
Most recently, Clayton was the first United Way board member to successfully recruit two new businesses to join our 365 Campaign. This initiative allows small businesses to get involved with United Way of Sumner County by committing to donate $1 a day to our organization.
Clayton may be relatively new to United Way, but has been a longtime believer in giving back to the community.
“I had been a member of the Portland Lions Club for many years and have volunteered for Habitat for Humanity to build homes in the Portland area. I love being involved with and giving back to my community, and I feel that the United Way of Sumner County allows me to do that on a broader spectrum,” Clayton says. “Through the United Way of Sumner County, I am still able to focus my attention to the Portland community primarily and it also gives me the opportunities to serve in other parts of the county.”