United Way Evening of Philanthropy honorees announced; event set for May 9 at Olive Branch in Palmyra

HANNIBAL, Mo. — The United Way Evening of Philanthropy, honoring community members who live out the mission and vision of the United Way within their own lives, will be held Friday, May 9, at the Olive Branch event venue in Palmyra. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with dinner being served at 7:15 p.m. followed by the program.

Tickets, priced at $50 per person or $400 for a table of eight, can be bought at unitedwaymta.org.

This year’s honorees are:

Philanthropic Individual: Justin Gibson

Gibson, of Hannibal, works as a financial advisor at Benson Financial and dedicates his life to service. He is active on many boards such as Hannibal Chamber of Commerce Board, FNC Academy School Board, Hannibal Regional Hospital Foundation Board, Child Advocacy Center of Northeast MO Board, Mark Twain Home Foundation Board, Gideons International Ministry, Early Bird Kiwanis and Hannibal Career and Technical Center Advisory Board. Previously, he served on the United Way Board and Hannibal Free Clinic Board.

Gibson has been a mentor through Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success, meeting each week from the time his mentee was in elementary school through high school to ensure his educational and emotional needs were supported.

Life-Long Philanthropist: Donna Brown

Brown, of Hannibal, works part-time as the office manager for Mount Olivet Cemetery, but she is a retired high school teacher from Palmyra. For the past 20 years after retiring from teaching, Brown has taught GED and HiSet classes to help hundreds of community members receive their high school equivalency diploma.

Brown first taught these courses through the Hannibal Career Tech Center. However, for more than 10 years, she has taught these independently without any compensation and has built partnerships to ensure the program is available to community members in need. She worked out a partnership with the Hannibal Housing Authority to create a classroom space for her classes to be held. She has made certain needed textbooks and materials have been available for students enrolled in the classes.

She also has made certain students who do not have the money to pay for their high school equivalency test can take the test without that financial burden. She has advocated for her students who have been enrolled in her classes with area agencies to ensure her students get the support they need.

Brown’s classes have been relied upon by the court system for community members who are on probation/parole. At times a requirement to get off of probation is obtaining a high school equivalency diploma. Her classes have afforded people that opportunity.

Philanthropic Couple: Michael and Whitney Holliday

Michael Holliday is an attorney with Curl, Hark & Holliday, LLC and has been active on many local boards such Hannibal Area Chamber of Commerce, Hannibal Regional Healthcare System, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, YMCA of Hannibal, Junior Achievement and the Hannibal Municipal Assistance Corporation. For 15 years, he served as a member of the Hannibal Public School Board and served as board president. Previously he was the stewardship chair for Arch United Methodist Church and has been instrumental in the success of local youth sports.

Whitney Holliday works as the director of Hannibal Parents as Teachers where she oversees a staff of parent educators who go into the homes of families in the Hannibal community and help parents help their children. She has been essential in building additional opportunities for families through Parents as Teachers by adding a parenting class at Children’s Division and working alongside the Vandalia Women’s Prison to do parenting classes for women there who are incarcerated.

She worked to bring the Leader in Me and 7 Habits program to Hannibal to ensure that young people were provided the opportunity to learn habits that would impact their success later in life. She coordinates the Buddy Pack Program for children in Hannibal through Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success. Her work ensures that more than 400 children in Hannibal have food during the school year to take home during the weekends.

Together, the Hollidays have previously chaired the Salvation Army Christmas Campaign and were founding board members of the local nonprofit, Down Country. They have both been recognized in the Quincy Hearld-Whig’s 20 Under 40.

Philanthropic Group: First Christian Church of Hannibal

In January 2024 as a bout of extreme cold winter weather was about to hit the area, Hannibal Police Chief and Emergency Management Director Jacob Nacke put out a plea for a church or organization to open as an emergency overnight warming center to keep unhoused community members and those living in homes without utilities a place to be in out of the cold.

First Christian Church answered that call and provided a safe space for unhoused community members to be in out of the winter elements. During the winter of 2024, the church was open for nine nights.

During this past winter, the church created a more formal overnight warming center structure and coordinated upward of 60 volunteers to coordinate overnight staffing, breakfast and snack support and triage case management. Challenges were faced head on when insurance threatened to uninsure the church if it opened as an overnight warming center. Those challenges were tackled by leadership in the church to find an alternative location for this program to continue to serve vulnerable community members. In total, more than 25 community members sought overnight stay at the overnight warming center, and the center was open for nearly 20 nights.

The Evening of Philanthropy is sponsored by Benson Financial and Hannibal Regional Healthcare System.

The United Way Evening of Philanthropy began in 2019 with the goal to honor community members who invest their time, talents and treasures in the community.