“Always have an attitude of gratitude.” – Sterling K. Brown

This past March we had the opportunity to bring the community together to celebrate a successful 2022 campaign and honor many great individuals and organizations in our community, including our Community Campaign Leader Viracon.  This month United Way gets the opportunity to celebrate our Volunteers.  Did you know that our Volunteers United Volunteers, now reaching 301 strong, have provided over 5000 hours of service to our community…and that’s just what we are aware of!  We are so grateful to these individuals for always being willing to step up and lend a hand when needed.  Thank you for giving of your time and talents to make this community a better place to live for all!! 

Our nonprofit community would not exist if it were not for volunteers.  Our ability to serve those in need would be nearly impossible.  Every day people wake up and make choices.  Our volunteers have chosen to serve a greater purpose.  To serve those that they do not know.  To serve those that can never repay them.  We know the value that volunteers bring to a community, and we know that we wouldn’t be able to serve the over 18,000 people we serve each year without them.  People ask when our downtime is at United Way and honestly we don’t have one, but we “always have an attitude of gratitude”, because we know that the work we are doing is positively impacting people in our community.  Again, work we couldn’t do without volunteers.

So, what has United Way been up to these past few months?  Well in addition to our work with the Community Summit Action teams, and our United for Childcare team, we have also been providing Tax Preparation Assistance, a vital Financial Stability program that provides free tax preparation for households with incomes less than $73,000.  Our goal this year was to complete 200 returns and thanks to our amazing Volunteer Tax team, we will reach this goal!! 

What’s next, well, Women United are busy preparing for Power of the Purse, the fundraising event that supports Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  This program provides books to children up to age 5 a free book every month.  This increases early childhood literacy and promotes kindergarten readiness in Steele County.  Watch for more information on this phenomenal event!! 

Currently, we are in our grant review process and pulling together our Steele County Report card to share the incredible impact made in 2022.  We’ve introduced a new internship program for high school students and are piloting several new programs that we hope to launch this summer.  Stay tuned and better yet, if you haven’t already signed up for Volunteers United, register on our website today so that you can be a part of the amazing work we get to do each day!!  Engaging Communities, Connecting People.  We’re YOUR United Way!        

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Annette Duncan is President of United Way of Steele County.  She can be reached at 507-455-1180 or via email by president@unitedwaysteelecounty.org. Our website is www.unitedwaysteelecounty.org