United Way of Utah County was founded in 1963. We had many wonderful community leaders in Utah County who believed that Utah County would benefit from such an organization. The driving force behind United Way has always been about finding ways to work together. These community leaders knew that working together could help make the community better.

Even from the beginning, United Way of Utah County was a local organization — focusing on what is happening right here in our community, working with local partners, and creating local solutions.

Over the next few months as we celebrate this anniversary year, I’d like to take a deeper look at United Way’s history here in Utah County.

United Way really began thanks to the vision of some brave community leaders. One of these leaders was Wilson Sorensen, who was a long-time president of what would become Utah Valley University and is credited for building the school and paving the way for its future expansion. Another was Ben E. Lewis, who was an executive vice president of Brigham Young University and a major figure in developing BYU into the university that we know today.

Courtesy BYU

These two gentlemen got together with other community leaders to discuss the huge growth in Utah County and what needed to be done in response. All of these amazing community leaders were so instrumental in building Utah County in so many ways, and they saw United Way as a fundamental part of building and shaping this community. They felt it was important to look at the broader piece, and with the growth in the community, they saw a need for something like United Way.

From the beginning, BYU and UVU became integral in United Way’s foundation and continue to be amazing partners today. BYU was the first organization to offer its employees the opportunity to donate to United Way through the workplace, setting up the first workplace giving campaign and establishing BYU as United Way of Utah County’s largest donor. Through the years, we have expanded with these and our other partners to find even more ways of working together in addition to workplace campaigns to strengthen the community.

Also from the foundation of United Way, we have worked with nonprofit partners such as Alpine House and Recreation and Habilitation (RAH), which provide services to individuals with disabilities. During this time, United Way was the first to pull transportation services into one location to create Utah Valley Paratransit and make transportation more efficient and accessible for seniors and people with disabilities.

We are in another season of growth in Utah County. The needs in our community continue to expand and change. At 60 years, there is still more to do. Our approach has always been to build community with help from all sectors.

We have found that the secret of the last 60 years is having great community partners. It really does take all of us to build a stronger community. We look forward to continued strong partnerships as we move into the future.

Courtesy UVU

For more information about United Way of Utah County, please visit http://unitedwayuc.org.