Kim Shows Up

Meet Kim.

If you ask her what she's doing today, the answer comes easily. "Whatever the director tells me," she says. That's how she approaches volunteering, by showing up and helping where she's needed.

Kim is from one of the five Mississippi counties served by United Way of the Pine Belt Region. Like most United Way volunteers and staff, she's from the community she serves and understands its needs. She recognizes the quiet houses where someone may be choosing between heat and groceries. She knows there would be needs here even without a storm, and volunteering gives her a way to respond to that reality.

A couple of weeks after Winter Storm Fern, there was still ice on the ground when a man rang the doorbell at the United Way office. He needed something to eat. "He's handicapped, fully disabled," Kim explains. "We gave him a warming blanket, and we gave him some food." She remembers what happened next clearly. "He almost started crying. So we know that we've impacted him today." On days like that, she answers the door and hands out food. Above all, she has the time to listen.

When asked why she volunteers so consistently, Kim points to trust and follow-through.

 "The reason I got so involved with United Way was because I realized that this organization did what they said they were going to do," she says. "They helped our communities instead of sending money or donations upwards. And I've seen the impact that it's had in our community."

Kim also brings years of practical experience to her volunteer work. "I've always worked in some kind of maintenance job or mechanical job," she says. "Electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, that kind of thing." Those skills shape how she volunteers now. She notices when heaters are unsafe, when homes need extra support, and when small fixes can prevent bigger problems during extreme cold. She looks for what might help right away and what can make a situation more stable.

That hands-on approach is part of what she values most about volunteering with United Way. "I know that we impact our community and the five counties that we serve because I've seen it firsthand," she says. She has seen it during storms, through distributing warming bags, and through coordination with police officers and first responders who are often the first to encounter someone in need. "We've given heaters to people that are in substandard housing. And they are so grateful for them they don't know what to do. And it's a small heater. Small things make big differences," she says.

In the days following Fern, law enforcement shared the story of an older woman living nearby who would not turn on her heat and lights because she was afraid the bill would be too high to pay. Kim listened and thought about what could help next. She offered to go out and prepare the woman's home, wrapping pipes to prevent them from freezing and getting things ready before the next round of cold weather.

That impact is what keeps her coming back, ready to do whatever the day demands.