United Way of Cumberland County invites businesspeople in the community to participate in its Campaign Kickoff at 11 a.m. on Aug. 26 at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church.

The goal of the event is to package 25,000 meals for families in need throughout Cumberland County to donate to local food pantries.

United Way’s director of Resource Development said she hoped 200 businesspeople would participate in serving their community through the event.

In a typical year, United Way would have a sit-down, chicken dinner with guest speakers to draw support for the organization. Given the turmoil that came with the pandemic and other unexpected events during the past year, United Way is taking a new approach for its 2021 kickoff event.

“We really just want to shake things up,” Melissa Reid said. “This is a great way for business owners to get their employees involved and to just take a lunch hour to help those in need because our whole campaign is about helping those in need in our community.”

Although Reid said she recognized that people may feel uneasy about attending due to COVID-19, the event will follow COVID-19 guidelines and the participants will be split among about 18 different tables.

“We all know where our next lunches, our next meals are coming from,” Reid said. “The people that our agencies work with? They don’t some days. This is a great way to build camaraderie and they’ll be doing good for the community at the same time."

BlueSky Restoration will be the sponsor for boxed lunches from Two Brothers Catering for volunteers. As participants, leave, they will be able to pick up a boxed lunch.

Volunteers can sign up by Aug. 24 by contacting Melissa Reid at 910-483-1179 or melissareid@unitedway-cc.org or by visiting the event's sign-up page here. Businesses interested in a workplace campaign are encouraged to reach out to Reid as well.