April 29, 2023, Shawnee, OK – The United Way of Pottawatomie County’s Shawnee Recovery Fund has received over $300,000 in individual and corporate donations, and an additional $200,000 match challenge, all of which will fund unmet needs of citizens affected by the April 19, 2023 Shawnee Tornado.

The first $200,000 of donations given will be matched dollar for dollar, until June 30. Donors can give online at unitedwaypottco.org/shawnee-recovery or mail a check with “Shawnee Recovery Fund” in the memo, to UWPC, P.O. Box 697, Shawnee, OK 74802.

The April 19 F2 tornado and storms hit Shawnee’s main sales tax center and affected over 1,800 homes of the working-class citizens who could afford it the least.

“We were hit in Shawnee’s highest concentration of near poverty-level and working-class families,” said Sandy Vanderburg, executive director of UWPC. “A majority of these households live paycheck to paycheck and too many of our citizens have already exhausted savings and maxed out credit cards on basic needs.”

The United Way Shawnee Recovery Fund Allocations Committee, comprised of UWPC board members and community leaders, is chaired by the UWPC board president, Michael Affentranger, Senior Vice President, BancFirst Shawnee, and includes John Bobb-Semple, Executive Director of Pogo, Darin Farrell, Vice President of Operations, SSM Health Shawnee, Travis Flood, Development Director, Community Renewal of Pottawatomie County, and Shawnee City Commissioner Ward 3, Joe Ford, President, Shawnee Milling Company, Kevin Hanna, Commercial Realtor at Nelmon Realty, Chad Larman, Director of Pottawatomie County Emergency Management, Dr. Kathy Laster, President & CEO of the Avedis Foundation, Tracy Meeuwsen, Program Director of the Avedis Foundation, Angi Mohr, President, SSM Health Shawnee, Brian Nave, Regional Market President, Sovereign Bank, Emily Rothrock Tate, Community Affairs Manager, OG&E, and George Wright, General Legal Counsel, Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

For more information on how to give please visit unitedwaypottco.org.

Additional Information: 

United Way of Pottawatomie County is a local and independently operated 501c3 serving Pottawatomie, Seminole and Lincoln County and serves 21 partner agencies.

The United Way of Pottawatomie County local mission is to strengthen communities by mobilizing resources to collaborate for the common good.