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The United Way of Hamblen County recognized the Pacesetter companies for this year’s campaign on Thursday: Colortech, Lakeway Container and Sonoco.

“These are marquee companies in our community, and the role of the Pacesetters is so, so important,” Campaign Chairman Justin Cook said during the luncheon held in their honor at the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce. “On behalf of me, on behalf of the United Way Cabinet, we just want to thank you for the important role you will play in this year’s campaign.”

During the first public event of the campaign – a full house in the Chamber’s board room – United Way Board Chair David Slack recognized, in addition to the Pacesetters, the Loaned Executives and media partners.

“It will be up to the three of groups of you to initiate the first part of getting the word out so that the campaign is successful. We look forward to each of the companies getting an early start. Loaned Executives will go into existing companies and explain to them why United Way is the best way to help the most people.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a great, great day,” Cook said, explaining that his afternoon had freed up unexpectedly and he had experienced a cash windfall

“I put my coat on and I dug in my pocket and pulled out two $20 bills. That’s just always a great day,” Cook said.

“It reminded me that things come full circle. My youngest son, now 17, when he was four or five years old lost one of his first teeth. I had gotten a couple of $2 bills for the Tooth Fairy to put under his pillow. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I panicked. I had forgotten to put this money under his pillow. And so I’m stumbling around the dark, I find my wallet and I pull out these two $2 bills and I sneak them in there. He doesn’t wake up. The next morning, he comes down all excited, the Tooth Fairy has shown up. My father-in-law was visiting and, Drew, he’s shouting, ‘The Tooth Fairy came! He brought me 40 bucks! I said, ‘Hunh, Okay.’ My father-in-law said, ‘Wow!’”

“So I feel like the universe comes full circle today,” Cook said. “I believe what goes around comes around and the good work we do at the United Way does pay dividends in some way, some fashion in our lives.

“It is work, it’s a lot of work,” Cook said, before referring to a magazine article that described the four bones of every organization.

“The first is a wishbone and these are people in the organization who wish for everybody else to do all the work. The second bone is the jawbone and these are the people who chat, chat, chat but don’t do anything really meaningful. Then you have the knucklebone, these are the people who criticize everything that anybody else is trying to do, they try to bring it down. Then you have the backbone, and those are the people that really shoulder the load and they get all the work done.

“The group we’ve got here today, the Pacesetters, the Loaned Executives, this is the backbone of the United Way and really the community,” Cook said. “Thank you again for all the work you have in the past and that you will this year put into the United Way organization. It really does have an impact.

After describing the challenges of a typical day in the workplace, Cook said, “I would just challenge you that when it comes time for United Way, to really think about ‘How are we as a company going to make an impact this year?’ and make sure that we’re not just paying it lip service, that we’re not guilty of being a jawbone. We are having our meetings and we need to make sure to get loaned executives in there. And we really start out, especially the Pacesetters, to make an impact this campaign, this year.

“You know there are a lot of distractions … and sometimes we forget about the work that we do and how it connects and how it ties and how it helps people. But just as we sit here and enjoy a nice meal from Jersey Girl, there are people who struggle with food insecurity, or shelter or addiction or mental health. It’s important to remember what we are doing and what we are about to do: raising funds from the community, asking our fellow employees to deduct from their payroll to give money. That really does have a direct impact on people in our community who really need it.

“So take that back with you, if you would, when you’re meeting with the leadership of your company, when you’re making Loaned Executive presentations, just to remind ourselves why we do what we do and why it’s so important and not just a secondary task, just one more thing to do on our list,” Cook said.

United Way of Hamblen County Executive Director Gary Matthews reported there are 13 Loaned Executives serving in this year’s campaign. The division goal for this year’s campaign is 75 presentations.

“Our Loaned Executives play a really big part in our campaign,” Matthews said. “They are our feet out to the companies, out to the individuals to tell them how important it is to give to the United Way and support our community in this endeavor. I called 13 people to be Loaned Executives this year and every one of them said ‘yes.’ That just showed me the dedication, the leadership and how important they feel like that being a Loaned Executive is. All these are veteran Loaned Executives. We’ve got folks that want to do it year after year, and that’s just great. We appreciate that.”

Matthews joked that since the three Pacesetter companies are located near each other in the Morristown Airport Industrial District, Pacesetter Division Chair Drew Rowe (Sonoco plant manager) could just about walk to Colortech and Lakeway Container.

United Way of Hamblen County Office Manager Jennifer Winkler recognized the media present.

“Every day, our purpose is to create opportunities for better lives for people here in the area, specifically Hamblen County, those who live and work here. That’s a lot of people. Have you ever stopped to think about how many people that is? In a county of about 65,000, approximately 20,000 – they say, according to Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce statistics – commute in for work. That’s where we come in; all of you helping us to help everyone else, it’s that great partnership. So, we want to recognize our media because we can’t put that message out there to that many people just on social media alone, it takes everybody together,” Winkler said.

United Way Board Member and Loaned Executive Carl Storms provided the invocation.

For more information about the campaign or to request a Loaned Executive presentation, call the United Way of Hamblen County office at 423-581-8601.