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Community Impact Initiatives
Achieving Community Impact
Community impact means improving lives by mobilizing
communities to create sustained changes in community
conditions. Its positive impact made possible when
people come together to make a difference. These
partnerships illustrate the community impact and the
commitment made by caring donors and organizations to
build a brighter future.
Born Learning
It’s easy and fun to provide early learning
opportunities for young children with United Way’s Born
Learning tools. You can do it anytime, anywhere – it’s
learning on the go!
Visit the web at
www.bornlearning.org for a few ideas to turn
ordinary activities into eye-opening experiences for
children.
Day of Caring
Day of Caring, held during National Volunteer Week
in April, is a community-wide event benefiting community
partners in Crawford, Franklin, LeFlore, Logan,
Sebastian and Sequoyah counties. Each year, Day of
Caring unites generous, community-focused people under
the common
 mission of creating real, lasting change in
the lives of children, families and seniors, right where
we live.
On Day of Caring, volunteer teams from local companies
and businesses, families and individuals work together
to complete projects and conduct special programs for
United Way’s community partners who, much of the time,
lack the necessary resources and manpower to tackle the
projects. These projects range from reading to children
or painting a room to engaging in outdoor activities
such as landscaping or washing windows.
Participating in Day of Caring provides an opportunity
for building stronger relationships among employees,
family members, friends and other community members,
while providing an introduction to United Way’s impact
and importance in the six-county area.
 Dolly
Parton’s Imagination Library
Imagination Library means books in the hands of
children, from birth up to their fifth birthday, to read
and keep for their very own personal libraries.
It means parents, older siblings, grandparents,
babysitters and others reading, talking and enjoying
books together with the children in their lives.
Children enrolled receive a new, age-appropriate, hard
cover book sent to them at their home each month. The
program is offered to families in Crawford, Franklin,
Logan and Sebastian counties at no cost.
The program began in 2006 in Sebastian County. It is
funded by United Way’s Women’s Leadership Circle with
10% of the members’ United Way contribution going to
Imagination Library. In addition, Imagination Library
receives proceeds from WLC’s fundraiser Power of the
Purse, grants and donations.
To enroll using a printed form to be mailed,
click here
To donate using a printed form to be mailed,
click here
FamilyWize prescription drug savings program
 FamilyWize prescription card is a free service from
the FamilyWize community service and is distributed free
by United Way of Fort Smith Area and their community
partners. Use the FamilyWize card to start saving money
on your prescription drugs today. Simply present your
card and prescription to a participating pharmacy to
obtain the discounted price. You always receive the
lower of the discounted price or pharmacy's retail
price.
This card can save you and your family an average of 20%
on 8 out of 10 prescriptions. Use the card as often as
you
need, for any prescription, for everyone in your family.
There is no income limit, age requirement, eligibility
or registration required.
The goal of this community partnership is to reduce the
cost of medicine for children, families and individuals
with no prescription drug coverage by $100 million in
five years. The discounts and savings are provided
voluntarily by the more than 53,000 participating
pharmacies that have agreed to accept this card. Please
remember to thank them for their participation and the
difference they are making for you, your family and for
your community when you fill your prescription.
Visit the Familywize website
here.
NALC Food Drive
Each year on the Saturday before Mother’s Day,
United Way of Fort Smith Area partners with the National
Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) in the largest
annual one-day effort to combat hunger in the United
States. Every year, families, letter carriers, postal
employees and volunteers do their part to provide tens
of thousands of pounds of food to those who are most in
need in Crawford and Sebastian counties. Letter carriers
deliver the donations to the post offices where
volunteers take them to area food banks or pantries.
Partnership for Prescription Assistance
If you don't have prescription coverage and can't
afford your medicines, you could get help paying for
them. United Way of Fort Smith Area is a partner with
Partnership for
 Prescription Assistance of Arkansas to
help Arkansans get prescription drugs.
PPA provides a single point of access to public and
private patient assistance programs that provide
assistance for more than 2,500 brand name medicines and
a wide range of generics.
Visit the PPA website
here.
Stuff the Bus
 Many children look forward to arriving on the first
day of school with new notebooks, backpacks and pencil
boxes, but it’s a different story for children whose
families can’t afford these items. Toward the end of
July, United Way of Fort Smith Area asks individuals to
help them stuff a bus full of supplies to be donated to
at-risk children in the six-county area it serves.
Not only do the donated supplies help children with
their studies, having a new backpack or notebook can
really help raise a child’s self-esteem. Feeling good
about themselves and having the tools they need to
complete their school work helps children get off on the
right foot as they start a new school year.
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