As the United Way of Central Alabama gears up for its Campaign 2011 season, a local woman with personal and professional passion for the United Way will be at the forefront of local fundraising efforts.

Pell City attorney Stephanie Bain will serve as the St. Clair County Division Chairman for the United Way Campaign 2011. In both her personal and professional lives, Bain has seen the good that the United Way can do for local citizens.

While speaking to the Pell City Kiwanis Club on Monday, Bain said she was named to the board of the newly-formed St. Clair County Day Program more than a decade ago after Judge Jim Hill found out she was an educator, as well as an attorney. Serving on other boards for programs funded by the United Way, as well, Bain said she became more involved with the organization, both helping to raise donations for the group as well as helping the allocation committee funnel funds into St. Clair County.

The reach of the United Way hit home in 2009, when Bain adopted her daughter.

“I knew we touched a lot of people, but I didn’t realize quite how many until then,” she said. “When I adopted her, she was actually with DHR in another county. I did it kind of ‘sight unseen,’ just one little picture, but I wasn’t aware that she couldn’t talk real well, and she was already about to be 2.”

After her adoption, Bain and her daughter worked with Hand in Hand, an early childhood program through United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham.

“Of the 62 children served in 2009, my daughter was one of them,” Bain said. “I’m thankful for the united way and the money they’ve given to United Cerebral Palsy, because now she speaks very well.”

Across St. Clair County, the United way funds a total of 14 entities, ranging from the Christian Love Pantry to the American Red Cross and the Pell City Needy School Children’s Fund. During 2009, United Way Partner Agencies served more than 26,000 St. Clair County residents, and last year, the county received nearly $700,000. Bain estimates that the county gets back $3 for every $1 received in local donations.

Through supporting health, income, education and disaster-relief initiatives, the United Way hopes to support local citizens who may need a helping hand.