By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Sherry Dryden started her new position Monday as Executive Director of the United Way of Ellis County.

Before she was even officially on the job, she attended last week’s annual Pacesetter kickoff luncheon and was meeting with UWEC board members and UWEC Office Manager Erica Burgess. The Pacesetter companies conduct their own internal fundraising prior to the official kickoff of the UWEC campaign late this summer.

“I’ve been involved with nonprofits throughout my professional career and as a volunteer,” Dryden said. “Now that my children are out of the house, this opportunity allows me to continue my professional growth and still remain involved with the many wonderful agencies in our county.”

She will remain busy year round, initiating some new efforts.

“I want to start meeting with the United Way funded agencies no less than a quarterly basis,” she said.

“A lot of people think the United Way is just raising money and giving some of that money to agencies and some more money comes in through a grant or whatever. There’s other ways we can all work together and help strengthen each other–bringing that unity together.

“Years ago there was some communication between member agencies to where if they had somebody come through their doors that they weren’t able to help, they were able to refer them to some other agencies as well,” Dryden explained. She hopes to “get that kind of get that cooperation going again.”

Monetary awards from grants is getting tighter, according to Dryden. She wants the UWEC to help the member agencies get additional grant resources.

“As the United Way, we’re more than ‘raise some money, give it out.’ We need to be supportive in many ways for our member agencies. We need to hear from them and be getting together on a regular basis to help keep us focused in what we need to be doing for them,” she added.

Dryden is the former human resources director at Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas.  She and her family have been a part of the Hays community since 1981.

Dryden replaced Jason Rauch, who resigned in April.

The United Way of Ellis County has a partnership with 15 agencies and will begin the 2015 campaign in August.  This year’s goal is $490,000–the same as in 2014.

(Disclosure:  Becky Kiser is the 2015 UWEC campaign chair.)