United Way agencies such as Catholic Charities and the Council on Aging are constantly looking for ways to help those in need in our community.

At a United Way agency fair last weekend, that meant talking about ways to partner with each other. As the agency professionals also discussed their services with the public, they learned a lot about each other.

United Way is an umbrella organization for several area agencies that touch just about every aspect of our community, from youth to seniors, from playful activities to basic everyday needs.

United Way is gearing up this year for its annual fund-raising campaign. Already several pacesetter companies are working with their employees to collect pledges for the annual campaign, which will help fund the various agencies throughout the coming year.

Those agencies work in concert to help United Way achieve its goal of community impact &045; a goal that involves not just cleaning up problems but in solving them before they start.

United Way hopes to:

4Support the vulnerable and aging population

4Provide access to health care and basic needs

4Build economic independence and

4Strengthen nonprofit agencies.

In coming weeks, if you haven’t been asked already, you will likely be asked to support United Way. Anything you can give will help the various agencies support programs that make a difference in so many lives in our community. Those agencies work so hard to help everyone else &045; let’s all pitch in to help them.