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United Way of Central Kentucky was the featured organization at the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s September luncheon Wednesday, with emphasis placed on the multiple ways that supporting the United Way supports the community as a whole.

“We have 22 funded partners, now 23 funded partners this year, and that represents 27 programs,” says Central Kentucky United Way Director of Development Christa Shouse, who announced during the meeting she would be taking over as the organization’s president.

“There’s maybe one degree of separation between those who need help and those who can give it, and a lot of times it’s our neighbor, it might be somebody we work with,” says Shouse. “We don’t know, but what my job is is to make sure that we have resources in this community for people when they need it.”

Wednesday marked the beginning of the United Way’s annual fundraising campaign. Shouse says while the organization doesn’t have an official number in mind, her personal goal is to see contributions return to pre-pandemic levels and to continue bringing new people into the United Way’s network.

“There’s still, even with the money that we’ve raised, grant requests that we can’t fulfill, but the community desperately needs these programs, so I want to keep trying to find that revenue out there, make new partners for volunteer experiences, for fiving back, for finding a way to be a part of the community,” Shouse says.

When it was announced during the luncheon that Shouse would step into the president role, there was a round of applause. Shouse says it is humbling to be entrusted with leading the organization she has been part of now for 12 years.

“I love United Way,” Shouse says. “I love the community that we serve. Having this opportunity, I can’t quite distill into words what that means, but I’ll say this: I started out as the admin assistant, and I’m going to be the CEO, so all of my experiences within the organization are important, and I’m blessed to have this work to do.”

To learn more about United Way of Central Kentucky, visit www.unitedwayck.org, or call 270-737-6608.

Hardin County Schools is reaching out to students, parents, faculty, and staff about a possible plan to shift Central Hardin High School freshman to a satellite campus for the 2024-2025 school year in order to accommodate renovation work.

In a video posted by HCS, Superintendent Teresa Morgan said the district wanted to reach out to parties involved to inform them the satellite campus option was being considered. Morgan said moving the students out of the building means work can be completed quicker.

“This is going to allow us to do construction in a much faster pace instead of having to move students from one wing to the other,” Morgan said. “This will allow our construction folks to get in there and get the job done to where we can move our students back as soon as possible.”

The district is considering moving kids to either the former Lincoln Trail Elementary School building or the former East Hardin Middle School building. Central Hardin Principal Tim Isaacs said parents should know that quality of education will not be impacted by any geographical change.

“The only thing that will change for their kids is the location,” Isaacs said. “Every opportunity that all of my kids have right now, those kids will continue to have. They’ll still be part of the student body at Central Hardin High School, they’ll simply be taking some classes in a different place.”

HCS Operations Chief John Stith said removing about 400 students from the building will help address the reduced classroom space available, and will cause fewer disruptions for students in the building while construction takes place.

“The part of the building that comes out towards U.S. 62, Leitchfield Road, the 90s/mid-90s portion of the building if you’ve been around Hardin County a while, that’s the section where we’re keeping it like we did the big gym, and we need to get the kids out of there so that we can get contractors in there to do the renovation.”

HCS is asking parents of East Hardin Middle School and West Hardin Middle School eighth graders to provide their feedback on the proposed plan. A feedback form and more information is available at www.hardin.kyschools.us.