Meredith Egan with Michael and Nora Berry. PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

Top level donors to the United Way of Indian River County, including members of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society, who make annual donations of $10,000 or more, were feted at a cocktail reception at the John’s Island Golf Club in appreciation of their support.

Welcoming everyone, Jeff Petersen, UWIRC board chair, acknowledged their “amazing staff,” led by CEO Meredith Egan, his fellow board members, and the event’s co-sponsors, Northern Trust Bank and John’s Island Real Estate.

He also thanked de Tocqueville co-chairs Sharon Northrup and Fritz Blaicher, noting that under their leadership, the society is on pace to raise $880,000, a more than 10 percent increase over last year.

“Our de Tocqueville Society in our community is our most important donor base,” said Petersen.

Putting attendees to the test, he quizzed them about some United Way acronyms, including ALICE – the ‘Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed’ population. This is the 45 percent of the population who are working and doing their best to make ends meet, but are still struggling.

Of particular concern, he said, is the lack of affordable housing in our area, now among the least affordable communities in the country.

“That is an effort that we’ve been specifically working on here at the United Way, beyond the annual campaign that we run,” said Petersen, adding that they convened an Affordable Housing Task Force to address the issue.

Additionally, through the 45 programs they fund at 34 partner organizations, they are addressing the education, financial stability and health of the community.

The acronym, CRP – the Citizen Review Process – references the volunteers who vet program applications to determine eligibility; and VITA – their Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program – utilizes volunteers to file some 2,000 tax returns, at no cost to eligible residents across the county.

As an example of the life-changing programs they fund, he introduced Nora Berry, who spoke about her husband, Mike Berry.

A former executive at NBC, he was the animation artist for the purple dinosaur, Barney, and sculpted bronzes for the NFL and NBA until 16 years ago, when he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 52.

Before they moved to Vero Beach, Nora Berry was a superintendent in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She is currently employed by Citrus Elementary School as a resource specialist and recently joined the UW Citizen Review Panel.

As her husband can no longer be left alone while she is at work, he now participates in the Senior Resource Association’s DayAway program, which receives UW funding.

“That could not have been possible without the support that each and every one of you has provided for individuals such as myself, who are out there trying to find a way to continue their purposes. So I come to you not as the philanthropist wanting the donations, but to say thank you. To help you understand where your precious investment goes,” said Berry.

“You may not realize what an impact the donations are having, but I’m here to tell you that if not for people like you, people who have a heart, people who ‘Live United’ for people like Michael and I, I don’t know what I would have done.”

For more information, visit UnitedWayIRC.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis