Delivering Holiday Support: 1,500 families receive end-of-year assistance
In a year that’s brought unprecedented challenges, many Lane County families are getting a small, unexpected gift this week. In a collaboration between Lane Community Health Council and United Way of Lane County, 1,540 families around Lane County are receiving $50 gift cards for their holiday celebrations and day-to-day needs. The story of how these holiday gifts came about is a small example — and shows a bit of the magic — in the vital role United Way plays in connecting relationships and resources with community needs.
A few weeks ago, the Lane Community Health Council approached United Way with a $77,000 donation to support underserved families as the year ends. Even more families than usual are struggling to balance the costs of food, housing, bills, and their health amidst scaled-back holiday celebrations. The Council asked United Way to determine the best way to get the funds into hands of historically underserved families— families who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, families in rural communities, and those struggling with poverty— communities in which United Way particularly seeks to invest.
Giving financial assistance—direct cash and gift cards—is one of the most helpful and empowering ways to provide support to families, allowing them to decide what’s most important for their families. We were eager to work with the Council, transfer the donation to gift cards, and find local organizations to distribute the 1500+ cards in a short amount of time.
Our United Way staff quickly got to work.
Our Education team reached out to Family Resource Centers and school districts around the county, including McKenzie River, Marcola, Mapleton, Oakridge and others. Our Community Impact team looped in NAACP, Oregon Family Support Network, Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane, Kalapuya High School, and many more. Soon, 20 partners around the county were ready and eager to distribute cards to the families they serve. When one of the programs texted families asking if they could benefit from the gift cards, it was clear how helpful these would be. Several families texted back almost immediately sharing their gratitude and relief for the extra $50.
With a wide network of business relationships in town, our Resource Development staff called up the Walmart regional office and worked with the local Green Acres Walmart team to help quickly transfer the large donation into 1,540 $50 gift cards.
In less than two weeks, our Volunteer and Engagement Coordinator, Alexis, was driving around the county distributing gift cards to community partners so they could provide them to families before the end of the year.
United Way staff member Mason Antram picking up iPads from Bigfoot Beverages.
Some Family Resource Centers also received an extra gift alongside gift cards— 34 new iPad minis, donated by Bigfoot Beverages to support students with distance learning. A longtime supporter, Bigfoot Beverages knew United Way could distribute them to organizations serving families most in need. Family Resource coordinators have seen firsthand the barriers many families face to accessing technology, so coordinators were thrilled to have iPads to give and lend to families.
Within a matter of weeks, $77,000 in gift cards and another few thousand in technology supports are now in the hands of families across Lane County.
These holiday deliveries are just one example of United Way’s integral role in our Lane County community—building relationships, knowing community need, and leveraging partnerships and resources to support families most in need. We know these gift cards, even at $50, are meaningful to families, especially since families can choose what’s most important for them— gifts for their kids that otherwise may not have been possible this year, special foods to share as families revise our holiday plans and traditions, or any other needs that exist right now.
We are grateful for the resources and trust our community places in United Way of Lane County— businesses, governing bodies, and families and individuals themselves who give— so we can invest in the day day-to-day and long-term work of creating opportunities for a better life for all.
If you, too, want to invest your resources in creating more opportunities for our communities to thrive, join us.
Make a gift to United Way of Lane County today.