DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / September 30, 2000

VACHERIE – St. James Parish employees came Thursday afternoon to theWest Bank Reception Hall to give their money away.

It was all for a good cause, as the Capitol Area United Way came to thank the employees and ask from them to again help the needy of St. James Parish bydonating directly from their paycheck.

Last year about $25,000 was given by the parish employees. St. JamesParish was ranked fourth in the Capitol Area for the amount of money the employees donated. Sheila Clayton of the St. James Parish Human ResourcesDepartment said the United Way returned $2,200 a month in payments toward assisting the needy in St. James Parish. “Please continue to givesuch generous donations,” said Clayton.

The employees were served a hot lunch complete with chili hot dogs. A “WhoWants To Be a Millionaire?” skit was put on by St. James Parish personnelmanager Sidney Oubre and assistant director of operations Terry McCreary.

The two asked and answered questions about the United Way, and even if they didn’t always follow the script they had a good time with the crowd.

Clayton supplied a breakdown of the United Way’s expenditures through the St. James Parish Council since January. The parish has so far spent $19,914 on anything from electrical bills, rent, clothing, grass cutting, medical expenses, mattresses and more. A total of 141 households and 341individuals have so far been served by the parish and United Way.

The parish sum, hardly shows all the money and services assisted by the United Way in St. James Parish. In 1998 26 Capital Area United Way memberagencies, like the greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, provided 101,589 units of service valued at $129,548 to St. James Parish residents.In 1999 that figure had increased to 109,842 services at $165,338. TheUnited Way and St. James Parish employees continue to help assist theneedy of St. James Parish, and hope to increase the amount of donationsgiven this next year.

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