Leaving a Legacy
Sharon Fuller retires from Lake Martin Area United Way
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STORY BY BETSY ILER PHOTOS BY JAKE ARTHUR & ALEXANDER CITY OUTLOOK STAFF
n her 10-and-a-half-year tenure as Executive Director of Lake Martin Area United Way, Sharon Fuller connected the community to help provide for needs we didn’t know we had. Fuller retired from the director’s position this month and leaves a legacy of making a difference in the communities LMAUW serves. In her term at the helm of the area’s nonprofit fundraising network, Fuller has led the organization in raising some $5.5 million for organizations and programs that have annually impacted 25,000 lives through 27 LMAUW agencies. In addition, she developed the Community Crisis Fund, a Children’s Summer Reading Program, a vibrant local Day of Action program and more, and it began with her own need to know. “I started the position in June 2011, and I didn’t know the agencies, so the first thing I did was visit them to find out what they did,” Fuller said. “And,
20 Lake Martin Living
being an accountant, I approached it by running the numbers and the statistics for how many lives were impacted by the agencies.” Her agency research made her aware of the lack of relationships among the organizations that were charged with caring for those in need in the community. “I had a meeting with representatives of all the agencies and had them introduce themselves to each other and talk about what they did. They realized that they could help each other,” she said. Then, she broadRescuing the Rescue Squad ened the relationBelow: Fuller helped ship foundation to the Tallapoosa County raise the funds those Alex City Rescue Squad agencies needed to acquire new equipment; have the greatest pos- Facing Page: Fuller's sible impact. Feeling last day on the job was the need to explain Wednesday, Dec. 8.
