Peggy Bair
Special to the Times
United Way of Leavenworth County held its 2026 campaign kickoff Friday with a gathering at Hallmark Leavenworth Production Center. This year marks the 75th year of Hallmark’s partnership with United Way of Greater Kansas City through collaborative community investment, employee pledge drives and corporate philanthropy.
Myranda Agnew, executive director of United Way of Leavenworth County, addressed the group that included board members, volunteers, local and state officials and representatives from nonprofits that United Way supports. Agnew has previously served as CEO of the Leavenworth Interfaith Community of Hope and Regional Coordinator with the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition. Agnew stepped into her role with United Way in March this year.
“I get the incredible honor today to stand in front of you today as the executive director,” Agnew said. “United Way is about what happens when all of us decide that the challenges facing our communities belong to all of us. That’s why this year’s campaign could not be more fitting. United Way’s new slogan is ‘United is The Way.’”
The organization distributed $70,000 to 19 Leavenworth County nonprofits earlier this year from last year’s campaign. In addition to fundraising, Agnew has plans to implement further outreach to make it easier for the community to connect.
“I believe our role is bigger than writing checks,” Agnew said. “We need to bring people together. We need to identify needs, connect resources, and continually invest in partner organizations already doing great work. When there’s a gap and no organization can fill it alone, we help build the table where a solution can begin.”
Agnew said that one in three households in Leavenworth County are living below the ALICE threshold. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
“Over 8,000 households are ALICE, meaning they are working and earning about the federal poverty level, but still struggling to afford the basics,” Agnew said. “They are not someone in a different county. They are our neighbors. They are in our neighborhoods. They are our coworkers, the parents sitting beside us at our soccer practice, the people caring for our children, and sometimes caring for our parents.”
Agnew said that people are seeking financial and housing stability but also struggling with a shortage of child care and early education slots.
“It means that parents who want to work but cannot find care for their littles,” Agnew said. “Employers are struggling to recruit and retain employees. Children are missing early learning opportunities during some of the most important years of their development. The United Way is helping bring the community together through a new initiative we’re calling ‘Raising Leavenworth County,’ a countywide child care and early learning collaborative.”
As another solution through United Way, Agnew said the agency is building a countywide volunteer management system.
“It will make it easier for someone to say, ‘I have two hours, where am I needed?’” Agnew said. “It will be easier for nonprofits to find people they need to serve, easier for businesses to engage their employees – easier for all of us to turn the desire to help into action. We are listening differently and asking better questions. As we begin this campaign, I hope you will think beyond the question, ‘Will I give?’ I hope you will ask, where can I help move Leavenworth County forward?”
Connie Harmon, executive director of Council on Aging, and Derek Wohlgemuth, senior vice president of Exchange Bank, Lansing, are 2026 campaign co-chairs.
“Myranda asked each of us to think about how we are going to be united,” Wohlgemuth said. “Uniting your coworkers to get behind a very worthwhile cause like the United way is step one. Our workplace campaigns matter.”
Employers can start a corporate campaign for employees to donate a dollar amount or an hour’s pay per pay period.
“Our campaign goal is $145,000,” Wohlgemuth said.
Harmon emphasized how United Way builds its success to help the nonprofit agencies.
“United is the way we stand beside our neighbors not only in crisis but before it happens, building a stronger community for all of us,” Harmon said. “Daily, I’m reminded that no one organization, company, government agency or individual can solve every challenge alone. But when we bring our strengths together, remarkable things happen. This is what United Way represents. It’s a commitment to look beyond a single problem to see the whole community. It’s the understanding that when one family struggles, our whole community feels it. And when one child succeeds, our whole community becomes stronger.”
The campaign runs through Jan. 15, 2027. For more information about how to participate in the United is The Way campaign as a donor or a volunteer and learn more about the new initiatives and corporate sponsors, visit https://www.uwlvco.org. The UWLVC office is located at 712 1st Terrace, Suite 207H, Lansing, KS.
https://www.leavenworthtimes.com/2026/09/22/news/united-way-kicks-off-new-campaign/