United Way of the Coastal Empire is looking for community members interested in being part of this year’s community investment process.

Each year, United Way of the Coastal Empire engages dozens of volunteer citizens from across the community to serve on one of four Community Investments’ Allocations Panels.

These panels evaluate program funding proposals from non-profit social service organizations in Bryan, Chatham, Effingham and Liberty counties.

The members then make funding recommendations to allocate The Community Fund, which are the un-designated donor contributions raised during United Way’s annual charitable-giving campaign.

The programs evaluated by the Allocations Panels address critical needs in our community within United Way’s priority impact areas of: Education & Youth Development, Health & Wellness, Economic Independence and Basic Human Needs.

Interested participants will spend an average of four hours per week over a three month period reviewing program applications, visiting program sites and finally making recommendations as to how the money should be invested.

A training and orientation session will be held on Thursday, August 12, 2010 from 8:30 am until 10:00 am. This training is centered on how to review the application, evaluate outcomes and determine level of support.

For detail information regarding the Community Investments Volunteer’s job description, time commitment and qualifications, please visit www.handsonsavannah.org. The volunteer application form is also available online.

For questions, contact Richard Edwards at 912-651- 7727 or by email at redwards@ uwce.org