It’s Not Too Late to Give!
BY CHRISTINE ROBERE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNITED WAY OF THE LAKESHORE
If you have already made a donation to United Way of the Lakeshore this year, thank you! If you haven’t had a chance to give yet, it’s not too late…our annual campaign of giving is still underway.
Donations made to United Way of the Lakeshore stay in our local counties of Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana, helping support programs and services that tackle the most pressing challenges faced by those in need. ALICE, (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families continue to be our focus, with a goal to help 10,000 more working families meet their basic needs by 2025.
ALICE could be your neighbor, your colleague, a family member, or friend. ALICE is often one crisis away from not being able to make a house payment or buy groceries that week. We invite you to view our video to learn more about the challenges facing these families and how we can all help.
2017 Campaign video, United We Win, from United Way of the Lakeshore.
Donating to United Way of the Lakeshore online is easy and secure – just click here.
How are we helping ALICE? Mission for Area People (MAP) shared this story of someone helped with funds from the ALICE transportation grant they received through United Way of the Lakeshore.
“Sitting in the MAP lobby sobbing, was a very distraught young woman in need of car repairs. Without her vehicle she could not get to her unit in the Army Reserves, nor could she get to her job. ‘Alice’ had taken her car to a repair shop for an estimate, and before she knew it, some repairs had been made to her vehicle. On a limited budget of under $800.00 per month, ‘Alice’ could not afford the full costs of the repairs and she needed the car to get back and forth to work.
“She heard about the vehicle repair program at Mission for Area People, and after speaking with the repair shop and gathering all the information needed by the agency, ‘Alice’ received her vehicle within 48 hours. Thanks to your support of United Way, she is one of many grateful people who was able to maintain employment and keep moving forward. Your support also ensured that she could continue to serve all of us through her role in her Army Reserves Unit. On behalf of the people they serve, Mission for Area People says, ‘Thank you United Way of the Lakeshore for this much needed program in our community.’”
United Way seeks answers to reliable transportation for all in our community.
Did You Know? Donors Decide Where Donations Are Invested in Our Community. United Way has a unique process of community engagement to determine how your donations are distributed throughout our community. Donors are asked to volunteer for our Community Investment Strategy Team, which makes all the decisions on where investments are directed from the donations that we receive. The total annual time commitment for this volunteer opportunity is about 12 hours, with meetings toward the end of the workday or in the early evening.
We welcome volunteers from each of our counties (Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana) to be involved in making these decisions on how and where we spend the individual donations that we get from the annual workplace campaign. These local donors provide solutions to critical education, income and health issues facing people in the Lakeshore area. Dollars raised in a particular county are used to fund projects in only that county.
Please join us as a volunteer to help ensure that our investments are on target. To volunteer to review programs for investments, please complete and return the Community Investment Volunteer form – click here for a form.
United Way of the Lakeshore is uniting to inspire change and build thriving communities. Our Bold Goal – 10,000 more working families meet their basic needs by 2025. For more information, contact United Way of the Lakeshore at (231) 722-3134. Learn more about United Way of the Lakeshore at UnitedWayLakeshore.org, like the organization on Facebook and receive up to date information from Twitter at twitter.com/uwlakeshore.
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