United Way Thanks Community!

Scottsbluff- United Way of Western Nebraska would like to thank our communities for their amazing support of United Way this past year, especially during a pandemic with increased needs and so much uncertainty!  United Way raised $373,747, exceeding the $308,000 campaign goal!

Those that could, stepped up and continued to give and pay it forward to those less fortunate, both with monetary support and volunteering. Many went above and beyond their normal contributions. We are fortunate to live in such a giving and supportive community that believes in helping others in need.

With COVID-19 implications this past year, we had to change everything we do- our fundraising, our annual campaign process, our community impact projects and volunteering. We were so blessed to be able to continue to serve our communities, especially with the increased need of so many more than usual.

As we changed the way we engaged and interacted with people and business this year, several key factors helped us surpass our fundraising goal!

• We had 25 amazing UW Pacesetter Businesses and their employees who helped UW raise money all year long by doing internal fundraisers, did corporate donations or matches and allowed employee payroll deduction giving. Even through COVID, these 25 Pacesetter Businesses and their employees donated $145,685.
• We had $75,500 donations from 3 local businesses that we were not counting on.   
• We had to cancel all of our 2020 Special Events except our Duck event.  We had to do the event totally different due to COVID, ran it as a raffle and did the event at the 18^th St Downtown Plaza in Scottsbluff. The event raised $73,000, selling nearly 1800 more ducks than last year.
• The rest came from community donors making donations all the way from $1 to several thousand dollars. Some people from the community even donated their personal COVID stimulus checks to United Way. It all adds up and makes such a huge difference in so many lives in the communities we serve!

Other 2020 Highlights:  

• United Way is funding 16 local programs that provide services to families in need in the communities we serve.
• United Way started a COVID-19 Community Compassion Fund and raised and distributed $26,463 in our service area. Funds were distributed to local programs that were serving families struggling with food insecurity, utility and rent assistance due to COVID.
• Our Community impact projects all had to be done differently due to COVID.

1. For the 2020 Stuff the Bus School supply drive we did monetary collections instead of supply collections. We were able to purchase 225 prepackaged school supply kits to fill CAPWN’s client applicant needs and distributed $5,025 worth of VISA cards to 9 local schools districts for them to purchase school supplies for the students they serve needing school supplies to start school.

2)  We were not able to hold our in-person food packaging event for Day of Caring due to COVID. We were still able to raise $16,400 through grants and donations specific to our Food Insecurity project. Those dollars were used to purchase $16,400 worth of VISA cards that we distributed to the 15 local programs we normally support through our Day of Caring event, programs that are serving food insecure families in the communities we serve so they could purchase food items specific to those they serve.

United Way continued to be a collaborative partner in Community Impact work being done focusing on better health, education, financial stability, homeless prevention and food insecurity. Due to additional need for volunteers, we were able to help some of our funded partner programs at COVID related drive-thru food pantries and the Shopping for Seniors program.