UW’s Hannon: Mahoning Valley ‘Invented Hanging Tough’
Bob Hannon, president of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, is hanging tough. You can read more about the station at the United Way website.
What are some ways the COVID-19 outbreak has changed your work life?
Our work has changed dramatically at United Way. Spring is usually our event season, when we’re planning and soliciting sponsorship for our events. Our Annual Meeting which typically draws 500 people; our largest fundraiser, our “Champions Among Us’’ event at The Lake Club; our Bass Classic; and a golf outing sponsored by two donors all have been cancelled. I am proud, though, of how quickly we shifted to mobilize our work to help during this pandemic. In partnership with the Muransky Family and PNC Bank, we do a food distribution each Saturday for those who should not be outside or cannot get outside for a variety of reasons, like transportation. We began with 100 families; we now are at 250 families. Volunteers deliver the food, we pack the food on site. We have partnered with schools to provide supermarket gift cards to those families and children in the greatest need, we have partnered with our funded agencies to provide them funding during this crisis, and we led a virtual afterschool program for those children in our Success After 6 program. United Way has a unique ability to mobilize funding and volunteers to do this work and do it at a high level. I see our work changing and evolving because of COVID-19. We will emerge as a new United Way, and I think more impactful to our community.
How about your personal life?
Candidly, this has been hard on me. I am a social person; I go to the Y four or five times a week and do spin class, I like to walk outside, I golf, I enjoy attending events. All of this went away so quickly, and it weighs on you mentally. I also have three young grandchildren and although I did get to see them, we were very safe and cautious, so many times it was through the door or window. Just recently we have relaxed some of the social distancing within our family.
What steps are you taking to hang tough?
I’m more focused at work, making sure we are doing all we can to support our community. We have been resilient as a staff, everyone trying to re-imagine our United Way. Personally, I had to overcome this “woe is me” attitude. I have a great job, and the ability to help others, and I think waking up each day with that mentality has helped. Also, I’ve been reading more. I like leadership books, especially John Maxwell’s leadership philosophy, and I think that has helped me stay tough and positive. I’d like to think I am a glass-half-full person and staying positive has been challenging, but I think you have to fight through that. As for our community, we invented hanging tough. We have been through a lot, and always overcome and persevere.
What advice are you sharing with the people you love?
As for advice to those I love, I tell them to stay patient, this will pass and in some ways it may make us better people. As for the patient thing, this comes from a very impatient man, LOL. Hopefully we all will appreciate things we may have taken for granted; spending time with family, a picnic, going to dinner, attending a sporting event, and so on. Just getting out recently to play a round of golf with friends and family made me feel much better.
Any other thoughts?
I was a local sportscaster for 20 years and I always thought the Mahoning Valley was a great place — people who are blue-collar tough, very passionate and very giving. Now in my 12th year at United Way, I see this at a new level and I know we are unique and special. Each year during our annual campaign we raise more than $3 million thanks to those working in our community and that’s amazing. Now during this pandemic, we have raised close to $250 thousand for our COVID-19 work and this is coming without making one ask. It has come from people seeing our work and wanting to help. So many have stepped up to volunteer as well.