You – and 200 or so of your newest friends – are invited to join the United Way for dinner

This article is part of an ongoing #UnitedForGood series highlighting people, agencies, and programs the United Way of Bay County supports.

Imagine having dinner with 250 of your newest friends.

The United Way of Bay County invites you to do just that when it brings together at least 250 people for a catered meal at 5 p.m. Wed., Sept. 17. The meal is The Longest Table presented by Dow.

Nicole Luczak, President and CEO of the United Way, says annual event brings together people from all walks of life to sit down and have conversations over a meal.

“Probably most of them would never even see each other in church, let alone in the voting booth or anywhere else, and yet you can sit down and have civil conversation. That’s pretty amazing,” says Luczak, who has seen the event grow since 2022.

“All these cool conversations that happened just organically, which was the whole point of it.”

United Way partner organizations help make the event possible, including three new and returning partners this year.

Tara Welch heads up one of the partner programs – Discover You, which is part of the Rock Center for Youth Development at the Bay-Arenac ISD.

“We’re excited because we feel like it will create a more of a community awareness of what we’re doing,” Welch says.

“You hear a lot about ‘There’s that program in the school,’ There’s this program in the school,’ but the opportunity to actually talk to people that are donors of the United Way will help them understand what that program is actually doing for our kids.”

Welch explains that Discover You sends coaches into classrooms at the Bay-Arenac ISD and teach resiliency skills alongside 21^st Century job skills.

“We do lessons that focus on the individual character strengths of each of our students, and we teach them how to lean into those character strengths and use them as they develop skills,” Welch explains.

The program also helps students learn new skills.

Common skills include learning how to have productive conversations with adults or goal setting to help figure out what you want to do for a career.

“And then that whole idea of failing and trying again; that’s the resiliency that we want to teach them – that it’s OK to not get it right the first time.”

This is the first time the Rock Center for Youth Development will participate in the Longest Table, and Welch says she is excited about making new connections.

“I love the feel of it, and I think it relates well to our programming, too, because it’s just about that curiosity of getting to know your neighbor and getting to know your community, and how to have conversations with different people from different walks of life.”

The YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region also is partnering this year with the Longest Table.

YWCA Executive Director Moira Branigan says her agency is no stranger to partnering with the United Way for awareness campaigns.

Brannigan says in the past they’ve been partners, but took a few years off to revamp some offerings.

This year, the YWCA will be representing its Women’s Economic Empowerment Program (WEEP) which provides advocacy for local women and families by helping them become self-sufficient and build connections in the community.

As partners with the United Way, Branigan says it’s important to highlight the ways funding makes a difference for the people they serve.

“A lot of times, women who are in our program are really hidden in the community or they’re forgotten about,” she says. “So, we’re going to be lifting up some of their testimonials and sharing some of their stories.”

Testimonials will come from single moms who struggled, women who were sheltered and are now employed, or women who spent over a decade living in instability but are now self-supporting.

“This comes along at a time when we’re working on our 2025 Women of Achievement Awards, which we do in early October, and we’re profiling and lifting up a graduate this year who’s somebody who is living in shelters for 12 years in extreme instability.”

Branigan says that through the woman’s participation in the YWCA’s WEEP, the honoree was able to find stability, move out of the shelter, and is now employed.

“She’s a great example of a really tough lady who had to go through a lot, and we were really proud of her. That’s what we’re hoping to bring to The Longest Table.”

Women enrolled in the workshops called “Moving Ahead,” are provided with the tools they need to make financial decisions and empower them to be financially independent. A related program, “Pathways to Progress,” helps them become more confident with goal setting and future planning.

Branigan says in the past, there was little after-care once women graduated from one or the other workshop, but that is something they’ve been able to change. There is now ongoing communication with graduates, and special classes just for those who have participated.

Brannigan says one of the follow-up programs, “Staying Ahead,” is part of what they do to make sure women are able to see long-term success.

“Success and achieving goals, and reaching stability is such a long game,” she says. “It’s not an overnight thing, and then none of our programs are overnight fixed. They just kind of help shore people up and give them some skills. We like ‘Staying Ahead’ because it keeps the conversation going, keeps the learning there.”

Partnering with the United Way, Branigan says, is a way to show the community what the YWCA does, especially those who may not have been exposed to anything other than the fitness center that used to exist.

“It’s not another chicken dinner, where it’s all the executive VIP level people. We really want it to be a picture of what our community looks like.”

– Nicole Luczak, United Way of Bay County Executive Director

“It’s a really cool opportunity. We’re really thankful to be included, and we’re so appreciative of everything the United Way does to help us keep our doors open and keep delivering programs,” she says.

A third new partner this year is the Bay County Child and Senior Citizen Center Inc. Fremont Center child care service.

The event will be held in Uptown Bay City along Uptown Drive on the riverfront. Luczak says she encourages the sponsors who get tickets for their employees to try to make sure the people who will attend are those who don’t normally get to attend things like this.

“It’s not another chicken dinner, where it’s all the executive VIP level people,” she says. “We really want it to be a picture of what our community looks like.”

Each sponsor will be provided with tickets for employees, but also tickets to be given away to community members. Individuals will also be able to purchase tickets. Luczak adds she hopes for every ticket sold, one given back out to the community.

Vinny’s Pizzeria will cater the meal; Michigan Sugar and Cream Ice Cream Company will provide dessert; and beverages will come from Tri-City Brewing Company. As in the past, Empty Canvas will provide entertainment.