Linda Jewell Carr is pictured here and is the new face as executive director for United Way of Sampson County.
                                 Courtesy photo

Linda Jewell Carr is pictured here and is the new face as executive director for United Way of Sampson County.

Courtesy photo

A desire to help those in need within the local community is the driving force behind the acts of United Way of Sampson County, its members say. That same passion is one which burns deep within Linda Jewell Carr, who has recently been tapped as the non-profit’s new executive director.

“I am ecstatic that the board has given me the opportunity to be a part of such a well-known organization,” Carr said about being appointed executive director. “I know when I was here, I always gave to the United Way because I worked with Sampson County Schools and we could contribute through the system.

“I always donated, and part of what I enjoyed about that opportunity was that I would always designate where my funds went,” Carr explained.

“My children participated a lot in 4H, and then they both participated in scouting, so, I knew those funds were going to stay local, and those funds were actually going to directly go back to my children. But I also knew United Way supports nonprofits dealing with kids all the way to senior citizens. I’ve always had a heart for service, so I’m just really excited to be doing something that I know directly ties to the community.”

Carr is no stranger to Sampson County, having taught clogging here for years, as well as being a part of Sampson Community Theatre and, of course, her long-time involvement with the schools, including as principal of Union Elementary.

After leaving Sampson, she spent time working for the state before eventually retiring last year as superintendent of Camden County Schools. But retirement, Carr said, in no way meant she intended to just sit around the house. In fact, because of her strong desire to be heavily active in her daughter’s last year in school, she found her way back home and into the new UW executive director position.

“Well, we wanted to come back to Sampson County for my daughter (Jewell) to finish her senior year of high school, and so, we’ve done that,” Carr explained. “I also wanted to be heavily involved in her senior year, so I retired from the state and then started looking for part-time employment. I prayed about where could God use me, and also for something that was fulfilling because if you’re going to work, you might as well enjoy your work,” she stressed.

When United Way board members came knocking, it seemed the right door swung open.

She first learned about the position from members of her husband Ed’s family. “Well,” she said laughing, “Ed was talking with his cousins, and they were mentioning that United Way needed a passionate executive director. I have lots of energy, and I never intended to just stay home. I wanted to find something else to put my energies into, and this was a great fit.

“This opportunity came about, and I was blessed to be selected by the board,” she said. “That was about the middle of August, and then I just kind of hit the ground running.

Now at the helm, Carr has plenty of goals she’s hoping to achieve. One of the big ones, she said, is growing the number of donors to the non-profit’s campaign, and then extending its impact.

“Right now, my first campaign with United Way is underway and I’m hoping to bring on some additional donors that we might not have h.ad in the past,” she said. “I guess a message that I would like to share is that it doesn’t matter the size of your donation. We appreciate a $5 donation as much as we appreciate the $1,000 donation. People need to give what they can in this tight economy, and they can know that their dollars touched many, many folks.”

Just as importantly, Carr stressed, she wants potential donors to know that every dime spent by the local United Way is “conscientiously spent,” with an eye toward ensuring local agencies’ needs are met

“I expect that some of the organizations that have been funded in the past will continue to seek funding,” she said, ticking off a list of agencies that benefit everyone from children to senior citizens. Current agencies include FRIENDS of Education and CAFE, the 4-H and a wheelchair ramp initiative through the Department of Aging.

Carr also noted that United Way also supports the Child Advocacy Center, the Special Olympics and the Firefighters Association, one, she said, that was very important to her personally.

“The Firefighters Association applies each year and they use the funding to purchase fire prevention literature that’s dispersed through the schools,” she said. “That’s real important. I can say that as an educator, that was something that that highly touched me. I lost some children in a fire when I was at Union Elementary, and then we did a big campaign for smoke alarms through the fire department, that was just heartfelt work.”

She urged all those agencies and new ones who might need the support of the local United Way to apply if the organization has been established for three or more years.

Carr pointed to the website, unitedwaysampson.org, and explained that organization leaders needed to take a look, see what was involved in the application process and then try to fill out the form.

“I will say that you would need to submit a complete application to be seriously considered by the board,” Carr stressed, adding that it was important to include an organization’s financials.

“The board is very cautious and careful about the gifts that have been given to United Way of Sampson County. We’re making sure that it holds to the motto’s that are upheld through United Way Worldwide, through the United Way North Carolina, and that we’re following suit.”

Time before United Way

Before taking the executive director’s job at the United Way, Carr had a long career in education spanning over 30 years.

That career began at Clinton High School where she was theater and dance teacher. She later moved into administration and eventually she left Sampson County to become an assistant principal in Wayne County.

Carr would find her way back to Sampson and to the Sampson Early College as its administrative lead. She also had a stint as principal at Union Elementary School as well as time at the central office where she headed federal programs before an assistant superintendent.

“I enjoyed being able to make an impact folks throughout my career,” Carr said.

Although retired from education, Carr hasn’t given up teaching either. She started classes in communication at Sampson Community College late last week.

“I have been able to teach part-time at the college, which is something that I really love doing,” she attested. “I’ve really missed it during the six months you have to be out after retiring.

While Carr has spent much of her life in Sampson County, she actually hails from Arkansas with her upbringing coming from life spent in neighboring Duplin County.

“I was actually born in Arkansas. My dad was in the military so we traveled around a little bit,” she stated. “Actually, most of my ,I’ve lived in Wallace in Duplin County, what they call DC, deep country. So, when I started working in Clinton, it was like moving to the city for me for a while.

Whether working with students at the elementary school or from within the central office, teaching them dance or helping them through the funding of programs that will benefit them, for Carr the key word is help.

“All I can say is I’ve been blessed, and I like to make an impact every day,” she admitted. “That’s one of my goals, when I am blessed to open my eyes in the morning, I want to know that it made a difference.”

United Way and the executive director’s job is her new-found way of making that impact.

And Carr said it was a bonus to have a board that shares her desire to make that sort of impact.

“I’ve been very blessed that the board is an active board;they don’t just come to a once-a-month meeting and say, ’ just tell us what you’ve been doing,”’Carr said. “They are very boots on the ground, and the board takes very seriously putting donations back into the community and not having a top heavy administration and administrative costs, or anything like that.”

It is a long-time mantra of United Way boards since the organization’s inception in Sampson in the early 1990s.

While other directors have come before her, including long-time ED Nancy Carr, Linda Jewell Carr said it was her desire to work hard enough that people now knew to reach out to her.

“Nancy Carr just worked with her heart for over 20 years,” she said of the 20-year veteran of the post. “Of course, she’s not been the only executive director, but when people think United Way, they think Nancy Carr. Now I’ve got to work so that when people think United Way today, they’ll think Linda Jewell Carr, so I’ve got to kind of change that, so people know who to reach out to.”

Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.