2024 Annual Meeting

United Way of Lincoln County held its Annual Meeting on October 10, 2024 at Events on Main in downtown Lincolnton, NC. At this event, we welcomed community members, government leaders, corporations, and more at this event, celebrating our volunteers, contributors, community partners, and partner agencies, each of whom are dedicated to helping our community and addressing its biggest needs.

Beyond sharing our impact with the community, United Way of Lincoln County gave out several awards to organizations, corporations, and individuals who impacted our community and our mission the most.

Over this last year, Norris S. Childers Elementary School increased their contributions to UWLC by 236% and North Lincoln High School increased their contributions by 42%! For this, these schools won our school awards! Educator Katie Lang with Norris Childers also won our Spirit Award for her amazing word in implementing new ideas and incentives to their campaign!
 

The Timken Company won both our Rising Star Award, given to an organization or company with the greatest increase in employee giving, and our Corporate Champion Award, given to the corporation with the largest contribution on behalf of its company and employees! Timken has been amazing at helping Lincoln County and is one of our biggest assets!
 

Duke Energy won our Leadership Award, which is given to the company with the highest number of leadership contributions per capita! We're so grateful for their commitment to our cause!
 

In terms of service, there were three individuals and groups we wanted to recognize across the county:
 

For her exceptional advocacy and dedication to UWLC's mission,  Michelle Barnhart won the United Way Ambassador Award! She has helped develop strong infrastructure in policy, procedure development, and so much more, and we're thrilled to have her on our board!
 

For her work in cultivating a diverse and equitable Lincoln County, as well as her genuine passion for bringing the community together and ability to inspire young girls to dream big, Vanessa Leon won our Stronger Together Award!
 

Finally, the Community Impact Award went to the Lincoln County Airport Disaster Relief group who have worked tirelessly to help those affected by Hurricane Helene. This group of individuals came together purely out of the kindness, empathy, and generosity in their hearts to make change and take care of our neighbors in the mountains. We're so grateful we can recognize their work!
 

Each of these individuals and companies make a massive difference in the issues that Lincoln County, and our surrounding communities, face, and we're glad to have the ability to highlight their efforts and commitments!