The late Paul Harvey told the extraordinary story of an ordinary man named Ray Blankenship. In 1989, he looked out the window of his home in Andover, Ohio, and saw something horrifying. His neighbor’s 2-year-old daughter was being swept away in a rain-swollen drainage ditch.
Ray knew that just ahead, the water funneled into a long culvert pipe — if the child entered it, she’d likely be gone forever. Without hesitation, Ray sprinted out of the house, raced alongside the rushing current and dove in. He managed to grab the child, tumbling with her in the torrent. Just 3 feet from the culvert, he caught hold of a rock and held on for dear life until help arrived.
Both survived, and Ray was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard’s Silver Lifesaving Medal. But what makes this story even more remarkable is this: Ray Blankenship couldn’t swim.
No one would have faulted Ray for waiting, for letting someone more qualified handle it. But there are moments in life when inaction is simply not an option.
That same spirit — of ordinary people doing extraordinary things — is what led a small group of Weld County residents to found United Way 85 years ago. Since 1940, our community has changed dramatically:
In 1940, the population of Greeley and Evans was just over 16,000. Today, it’s 137,000. Weld County had 63,747 residents. Now it’s more than 370,000.
We’ve gone from transistor radios to Bluetooth speakers, from paper maps to GPS, and from the Yellow Pages to Googling everything.
What hasn’t changed is our need to step up for one another. In fact, those needs have grown — and grown more complex.
In my eight years serving on the board of United Way of Weld County, I’ve had a front-row seat to how this organization rises to meet those challenges. From pandemic response to the ongoing crisis of homelessness, United Way consistently brings together the right people, the right organizations, and the right strategies through a powerful model called Collective Impact.
But we’re not just responding to surface-level needs, we’re going deeper. With a bold new strategic plan, United Way is now attacking the systemic issues that cause those needs in the first place.
This is where you come in. Yes, you. You may not feel like a hero. You may not think you’re fully equipped. But just like Ray Blankenship, you might be exactly what this moment requires.
Individually, each of us can make a difference, but united, we can change the game entirely. Individually, we can rescue people from crisis but united, we can build the guardrails that prevent the crisis from beginning. Individually, we can make a dent, but united, we are unstoppable.
United is the Way.
Like Ray Blankenship, we all see the need. The difference is: we are perfectly equipped to meet that need — united together.
So, let’s stop standing on the banks and let’s jump in together. United is the Way to change the world.
Angel Flores is the outgoing Board Chair at United Way of Weld County and the lead pastor at Mosaic Church.
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