Williams passes the Gavel at United Way of OC

The United Way of Oconee County celebrated their 50th anniversary last night with a dinner. New leaders were named to the board as out-going president Lisa Williams passed the gavel. “It was awesome, the enthusiasm and excitement in the room was incredible. It was the biggest dinner since I’ve been involved with the United Way for almost seven years. I’ve been serving as president of the board for the past three years and I got to pass the gavel last night to Tom Ray, who is the plant manager at Duke Energy, so that was exciting.” The biggest honor of the night came with the presentation of the Volunteer of the Year Award, continues Williams. “John Palmer presented the Volunteer of the Year Award to Ida Harrison, who is phenomenal. The award is named after John, either last year or the year before, we got together and approached the state of South Carolina United Way and they agreed and we named the Volunteer of the Year Award after John Palmer. So, now it is the John Palmer Volunteer of the Year Award. John has logged over 2,500 volunteer hours, so it’s well deserved.” For the past 25-years, LaShauna Harrison has served needy citizens of Oconee County through the United Way and now she is the new chief executive officer of the non-profit organization, adds Williams. “Shauna Harrison is at the helm now and she has just blown us away. She has all these initiatives that she is doing, she is just out the gate with all these great ideas, she is a great leader.” Earlier this year, Harrison replaced David McCutcheon after he announced his retirement. The United Way of Oconee County was also honored at the dinner by some local dignitaries, says Williams. “We had the South Carolina State Senate give us a proclamation and resolution. State Senator Thomas Alexander made that happen for us. Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander also read a proclamation from the City of Seneca designating Oconee County United Way Day as Aug. 4, so it was just a great evening.” Eight new board members were named to the United Way of Oconee County as well.