John Asbell has been named the chairman of this year’s United Way of West Georgia fundraising campaign.

Asbell has served as Georgia Power’s manager of external affairs for the Troup County area since May 2010 and also serves on the board of the LaGrange/Troup County Chamber of Commerce and the Harris County Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the founding chairman of THINC College and Career Academy. 

“It’s very, very humbling to know you can be the link in that chain, to have such an impact for so many,” Asbell said. “This year’s campaign slogan is ‘Be the One’ which denotes two things, one link and the power of one link and without it what happens to everything.”

Asbell said the community raised more than $900,000 last year during its annual, year-end campaign. 

“We are certainly focusing on a goal of over $1 million this year,” Asbell said.

Local United Way agencies include Active Life, the American Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Clubs of West Georgia, Boy Scouts of America, Camp Viola, CASA of Troup County, Children’s Advocacy Center of Troup County, Communities in Schools of Troup County, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Good Shepherd Therapeutic Center, Harmony House, Hogansville Empty Stocking Fund, Hogansville Senior Center, LaGrange Personal Aid and more. 

Asbell said one of the keys to a campaign is getting businesses to take part.

“Typically, what happens is they commit a coordinator, someone internally in the organization that can setup our campaign rallies and communicate it throughout their organization and get buy-in and participation,” Asbell said. “We need participating companies and assigned coordinators from those companies.”

A training session will be held for coordinators on Aug. 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at THINC, and the campaign kickoff will be held at noon Sept. 5 at Del’avant.  

“If you believe in giving back, if you believe in helping others, if you believe in the power of teamwork, this is as good as it gets, as a person, as an organization, as a company and as a community,” Asbell said. 

For more information, contact the United Way of West Georgia at (706) 884-8292.