United Way of Youngstown Opens New Volunteer Center

BOARDMAN, Ohio – The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley’s new Centofanti Volunteer Resource Center marked the realization of a plan envisioned at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

United Way volunteers, staff, board members and donors gathered Thursday for the ribbon-cutting of the 12,000-square-foot center at 8133 Market St.  

Its beginning can be traced back to a need realized during the pandemic.

Bob Hannon, president of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, said he was at home on a Friday night in April 2020, watching a television news story about a drive-up food distribution when he got a call from Ed Muransky. 

“He said, ‘What are we doing to help the people in the community where it’s unhealthy or it’s not safe for them to be out?’” Hannon said. “He said, ‘Well let’s do some investigating.’”

Muransky, of the Muransky Companies, is a longtime donor and volunteer of the United Way.

The following weekend, United Way began a food distribution to 50 families with eight volunteer drivers, partnering with Nemenz stores. The plan was to do the distribution for eight Saturdays.

“By the eighth Saturday, we had 100 families, and we had a waiting list,” Hannon said. 

And it became evident there was a need for it to continue after the pandemic.

The agency partnered with several organizations for what became Satur-Day of Caring, the third Saturday of each month.

But the United Way’s headquarters in downtown Youngstown doesn’t have space for a lot of volunteers or storage. Volunteers were packing food boxes outside the Southwoods Health facility, but it didn’t provide protection from the weather. United Way was offered supplies from various companies and organizations but lacked the space to store them.

That’s when they realized they needed a volunteer resource center and began that planning.

The James and Coralie Centofanti Charitable Foundation contributed $1 million for the project, kicking off the fundraising. An additional $1.5 million in federal funding was secured through U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Several other organizations also contributed to the building. 

The new center will provide space for agency initiatives, including packaging food for deliveries to those who need it. It will also offer meeting and storage space. Hannon also hopes other organizations use the center, mentioning American Red Cross blood drives and babysitter training.

He emphasized, though, that the agency will maintain its headquarters in Youngstown, believing it’s important for United Way to be present in the city while operating the new center in the township. 

He said United Way had about 150 volunteers before the pandemic. That number has swelled to about 600 across all United Way programs.

Eric Carlson, a member of the United Way Board of Directors and president of “Joe” Dickey Electric, said Thursday was a proud day for the agency and for the Valley. He thanked the agency board, staff and volunteers.

“Things do not just happen,” he said. “It takes time, sacrifice and investment from everyone to make our community better and to provide support for our youth so that they, themselves, can become the future leaders. The opening of the Centofanti Volunteer Resource Center is truly that investment.”

Pictured at top: The United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley’s Centofanti Volunteer Resource Center, 8133 Market St., Boardman, will provide space for volunteers as well as storage.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.