About three years ago, when Greg King ’96 was selected to lead the 2020 United Way of Central Alabama Campaign, he knew their strategy would look different during an election year. However, he had no idea that he and his team would drastically change their plans to persist throughout a global pandemic – and still support the Birmingham community.

This year’s annual campaign theme is “Because of You Hope Happens,” and King and his team are working hard to share how Birmingham area companies and organizations can help inspire hope throughout the community. The United Way of Central Alabama (UWCA) supports more than 80 agencies that provide services like quality healthcare, education, and financial development, and their campaign each year is crucial to funding these services.

“This year, I wanted to build a veteran team of folks who have a passion for the organization and who’ve held leadership roles in the past,” King says. “That strategy has served us well with the onset of the pandemic and as we do things dramatically different.”

Before chairing the annual campaign, King has served the UWCA for years, first as a donor. He then served on the board of Pathways, a United Way agency for women and children experiencing homelessness in Birmingham, and joined the United Way board. He led the Pacesetter Campaign in 2013 and served on numerous committees, leading to his role as campaign chair this year.

“The reach and the efficiency that the United Way has throughout our community maximizes impact through each of their organizations,” he says. “I saw this early on, and I always felt that through the dollars I was able to donate, I was able to touch a lot of need throughout the community.”

By the end of March, King and his team were about to get geared up for visits to workplaces throughout Birmingham, but they realized that the campaign would not be able to happen under normal circumstances. Meetings with UWCA staff and volunteers that would have taken place this summer and fall all went virtual.

“We’ve had to completely rewrite the playbook,” King says. “But the community has been resilient. Birmingham, for a long time, has run a very robust United Way campaign, and people have really stepped up this year.”

King has enjoyed collaborating with campaign leaders and volunteers on creative ways to share their message virtually. For the virtual kickoff, the team partnered with meteorologist James Spann and several community partners to create the Hope Happens Network, their imitation news channel that captured more than 450 social media participants.

During this year’s campaign, King says that the need for UWCA support has never been more apparent. As the needs of the Birmingham community increase with high unemployment rates and food shortages, his team has seen an incredible turnout in support. At the end of August, the United Way wrapped their pacesetter campaign and saw an increase of nearly $500,000 in funds raised from last year’s total.

“Birmingham is such a generous community and always has been. Those who are able to support the campaign see this year as a way they can be even more involved than ever before,” he says. “I’ve been so proud of the team and honored to be a part of it as the needs in the community have never been greater.”