During its annual awards ceremony, the United Way of Selma and Dallas County reflected on the successes of the past year and also discussed its future plans to beef up community service programs.

Incoming board president Don King said one of the group’s top priorities is to restore a sense of pride to people in the area.

“One of the big things we want to do to raise support is to raise the moral of the community,” he said. “People need to be proud they are citizens of Selma. A lot of people almost want to apologize for that, but we need to work together to raise money and raise up each other so we can be proud of where we are from.”

To promote unity and establish more community service projects, King said input from the community is a must.

“We don’t have all of the great ideas,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there who have some great ideas for programs that can help students in school or anyone who needs assistance. We want to hear from them.”

Having King at the helm, United Way executive director Jeff Cothran said, will be a huge bonus for the organization and the city of Selma because of his strong community spirit.

“Don told us that he considers Selma his home more than anywhere else and this is coming from someone who was in the military and has lived all over the world,” he said. “That’s why we are so excited to have him on our board. That’s the spirit we want to promote and continue to instill.”

The United Way, King said, is hoping to set aside grant money to launch additional programs like Doc in a Bus.

Companies that were honored during the banquet were Alabama Gas Company, Alabama Power Company, Bush Hog, Fathers of St. Edmund, First Cahawba Bank, Hanil E Hwa, Henry Brick, Hyundia, International Paper Riverdale Mill, Pepsi Cola, West Central Alabama Rehabilitation Center, The Selma Times-Journal,WalMart, and R.L. Zeiglers.