Boyne Citizen - Announcements

United Way Makes Year-End Community Investments

Char-Em United Way has made a special community allocation investment to meet critical needs. $25,000 from United Way’s Emergency Needs Fund has just been awarded to several local agencies.

Good Samaritan Family Services, Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency (NMCAA), and the Salvation Army have all received grants earmarked specifically for emergency utility assistance. In addition, grants have been made to three additional programs. These include the new Benefits Access Initiative, being coordinated by Char-Em United Way, Manna Food Project’s new Food Rescue project, and NMCAA’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. The Benefits Access Initiative is a new program intended to help low-income residents improve their financial stability by accessing a range of private and public benefits for which they qualify. Manna is seeking funds to purchase a vehicle to expand the recovery and distribution of surplus food from restaurants and stores. The grant to NMCAA will allow the agency to continue and expand this important program that not only helps low-income and senior citizens file their taxes, but helps them apply for Earned Income and other tax credits.

“We are very pleased to be able to provide additional funding at this time,” says Therese Green, Chair of United Way’s Allocation Committee. “During last spring’s Community Investment Allocation process, we set aside a small percentage of the available funds into an Emerging Needs Fund. This fund gives us flexibility to meet community needs that might arise in between our annual investment cycle.”

“The Emerging Needs Fund was conceived to meet new needs or to fund promising new solutions to existing needs. With the continued economic challenges our community faces, all of these projects will help families improve their financial stability,” continued Green.

The funds have been made available to all agencies immediately for use within the next three months.

“We were able to provide this special funding because we had such a successful campaign last year,” says Martha Lancaster, United Way Executive Director. “Last year we raised a record amount of funds and this enabled us to invest a record amount of money back into the community. As the community need is greater than ever, we hope that we will be able to maintain this level of investment again this year. However, that will only be possible if we reach our current campaign goal of $380,000. Our campaign now stands at 60% of goal, and we still have a long way to go to meet that mark.”

The Frey Foundation has offered United Way a challenge grant of an additional $20,000 if it meets the campaign goal this year. Contributions to the campaign can be sent to Char-Em United Way, P O Box 1701, Petoskey MI 49770 or made on line at www.charemunitedway.org, selecting the “Give” button.

For more information, contact United Way at 231-487-1006 or info@charemunitedway.org.

Char-Em United Way Funding Applications Available
Char-Em United Way’s 2012 Community Investment Allocation process has begun. Non-profit agencies which provide programs and services meeting the health and human service needs of Charlevoix and Emmet Counties are encouraged to submit a Letter of Intent to apply for funding.
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Serving the Boyne community for over a century and a quarter.

United Way Makes Year-End Community Investments