LEAVING A LEGACY

LeavingaLegacySharon Fuller retires from Lake Martin Area United Way

STORY BY BETSY ILER PHOTOS BY JAKE ARTHUR & ALEXANDER CITY OUTLOOK STAFF

In 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, 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 broadened the relationship foundation to raise the funds those agencies needed to have the greatest possible impact. Feeling the need to explain

Rescuing the Rescue Squad

Below: Fuller helped the Tallapoosa County Alex City Rescue Squad acquire new equipment; Facing Page: Fuller's last day on the job was Wednesday, Dec. 8.

LMAUW’s mission, Always On she again turned to From Top to Bottom: Fuller the numbers. collected items for the “We had to tell people what we do, through videos and brochures and preDenim & Diamonds silent auction and other events; Always eager to give people an opportunity to give; Forever grateful for sentations. We had to the businesses, individuals increase our transpar- and industry that support ency and educate the the United Way. community, show them the positive image of what we do,” she said.

She invited local people, agency service beneficiaries and administrators to help – to take part in the presentations, to tell their stories and ask for the community’s backing. She visited businesses and asked for their support. She hosted fundraising efforts – a fashion show that became an annual signature event, silent auctions, a quail fry and more. She partnered with chambers of commerce, businesses and industries to fill their needs as well.

“She brought the community together,” said Jamie Dark, who volunteered with the fashion show. “She made people aware of how they could help their community.”

“She came at a time when the community really needed her,” said Randy Dawkins, Tallapoosa County president at River Bank and Trust. “One of her biggest areas of impact is what she did with the Red Feather Society. She helped grow that group.”

When Fuller started her tenure with LMAUW, some 85 patrons donated $1,000 or more annually to the organization. She retired this month with 169 Red Feather members.

“Now, 54 percent of the amount raised every year comes from the Red Feather members,” said Tucker Nall, a new LMAUW board member.

“What she did with Red Feather was so well done. She appealed to a lot of people,” added Lake Martin Resource Association president John Thompson. “And the way she handled the tragedy at the Girls Ranch was just outstanding.”

When eight Tallapoosa County Sheriffs’ Girls Ranch family members were killed in a tragic traffic accident last summer, Fuller paid a visit to the ranch to discern their immediate needs; then, she contacted civic clubs, local boards on which she served and other LMAUW agencies to help meet those needs swiftly. She arranged for the girls to have a spa day, new clothes and food, to pamper them and show them they were loved.

“I just used my relationships to fill the needs,” Fuller said.

She tailored her fundraising campaign presentations at local businesses and industries to the audiences she addressed, never entering the buildings with a canned

speech.

“I just spoke from my heart,” she said.

“I met Sharon at a Kiwanis Club meeting where she talked about the effects of the industry change the community had experienced,” said Stillwaters Golf Club Pro Rob Witherington. “I told her about this golf hole marathon I had done at my previous course and how I was looking for a charity to benefit from it here. God put her in my path that day, and I adopted the United Way as my charity.”

Witherington has completed the 100-hole marathon to benefit LMAUW for six consecutive years, raising more money every year.

“The first year, we raised $3,000. The next year, it was $3,500. Last year, we raised $6,000. It is the one time a year when I ask my members for money to support something, and they really support it.”

“Even when COIVD19 hit, she outdid herself,” said LMAUW Board of Directors president Nancy Ammons. “She put on her boots, strapped them up and raised a record year. She makes this board look good.”

“She’s been my teacher, my mentor for five years,” said Courtney Layfield, who now steps into the executive director position. “I’ve got big shoes to fill.”

Along with her staff, Fuller volunteered at the agencies LMAUW helps to fund. She rolled up her sleeves and worked next to volunteers at schools, food lines and cleanup efforts. She made tough decisions, insisted upon accountability for the agencies LMAUW serves and promoted those agencies in their independent efforts to raise funds. She paired up businesses with needs for in-kind donations and brought her family’s heart for the community along to help. She brought technology into the LMAUW office, fed board members and agency representatives during meetings and advocated for board members to visit the agencies, so they would take the community’s needs to heart.

“This job has opened me to things going on in our community, hidden problems that I didn’t see. It changed my life,” she said.

“Abuse, hunger, domestic violence. I didn’t know we had these needs when I started this job. I lived in a bubble. I graduated from Auburn with an accounting degree and went to work for 10 years; then, I raised my family, was active in my church. I didn’t see the needs in this community. They were not part of my life then,” Fuller explained. “My family has come right along with me. They give because it’s important to them. Their community is important to them. I’m so proud of them,” she said. “My husband fixed things around Cookies and Care the office. We spent every Fuller delivered cookies to the veterans home and nursing homes. anniversary at the quail fry. I am so lucky to have a family that cares the way they do, and I consider United Way my family, too.

“Volunteers are a huge part of us being able to do what we did. I really just want to say ‘thank you’ to my community. It’s about taking care of others, and this is the most giving community.

“The hardest thing was not being able to help everybody. Did I do enough? Probably not. But as a community, we have our eyes more open to these needs now. I did a lot of connecting, and that was an honor.”

$90