In April of this year, 37-year-old Sarah Hoffman took on a new role in her life as executive director of the Brown County United Way.

“Our pastor at the time who was also my boss at the (Brown County Christian) school saw it online and thought it was a good fit for me,” Hoffman said. “The more I looked into it the more I thought I could do it. I have a heart for people and the community. When I started researching all the different non-profits supported by the United Way I felt it was right up my alley. I see these non-profits doing wonderful things in the community, really helping the community and I wanted to be able to help support that.”

The Brown County United Way’s purpose is to fund raise to provide grants to local non-profits, according to Hoffman, and the United Way serves 15 local non-profits within the county.

“My position as the executive director is really the only staff member,” she said. “My job is to be the community liaison with the companies and non-profits, in between helping the companies that want to help so their money can reach these non-profits.

“I work with the board and fund raise and I do that multiple ways. Most of our funding is by working with corporations. A lot of our big donors like Kohler, 3M, Hendrick Health, Atmos Energy, a lot of the bigger employers in town do local campaigns with their business employees. Sometimes the companies will match employee contributions, and each one is a little bit different. I also work with HR departments and whoever is on that committee within those businesses to help them within their campaigns and then they donate their proceeds to the United Way.”

Hoffman added the focus on the United Way is not just on larger corporations.

“We work with local smaller businesses as well,” she said. “Fall is our campaign season, that’s the busy time of year. The month of September is our big fundraising push. We working so far with seven different local restaurants to host fundraisers for us.”

The most rewarding aspect of her new position, Hoffman said, is “the people I’ve met the last few months and to really see the people in the community who have a heart for others. Whether they run the non-profit or volunteer at a non-profit, their heart is for the community. You also see the corporate world and the businesses, whether it’s blue collar or white collar, but they also have a heart to help as well. It’s their community and they want to help their community and neighbors. Being able to see the generosity people have has just been phenomenal.”

For those who want to help make a difference in the community, Hoffman said, “A lot of times people want to help and don’t know where to start. The United Way is a good starting place and a hub for people who want to help but don’t know where. If you want to help financially we can get that money to the non-profits. If you want to volunteer but not sure where to start, we have a list.”

Hoffman is also actively involved with the Brownwood Area and Early Chambers of Commerce.

Regarding the importance of being involved within the community, Hoffman said, “It really helps elevate everybody. There’s the aspect of being a good neighbor, but there’s also the practical side of it. When we have a healthy, thriving community, and city and area, then that helps everybody overall. It becomes a town that businesses want to come to, it becomes even more family focused. One person can’t help everybody, but one can make a difference in one person’s life.”

The Hoffmans are also starting a non-profit called the Central Texas Education Center.

“The first goal is to oversee Brown County Christian School,” she said. “It’s essentially and legally a brand new school but we’re doing business under the name Brown County Christian School.”

Hoffman and her husband William, the superintendent of Brown County Christian School, have four sons – Kaleb, who just graduated from Early High School and will head to TSTC in Waco, along with 8-year-old Eliada, 6-year-old Joshua, and 4-year-old Abel.